By the end of the year, Great Bend hotels and other sites will feature colorful, 5-foot-tall banners inviting visitors to shop, eat and drink, explore, celebrate, and stay in our community. Tuesday morning, representatives from Kansas Tourism stopped by the Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau to present a “big check” representing a $2,849 grant toward the new marketing initiative.
While colorful brochures are intended to draw people to area attractions, CVB Director Christina Hayes said the banners are intended to encourage visitors to stay longer once they are here.
“We all know that tourism brings in dollars to our community,” Hayes said. The transient guest taxes collected by hotels and the sales taxes collected from visitors’ purchases help pay for community improvements without adding to the local tax burden.
Bridgette Jobe, director of the Kansas Tourism Division of the Kansas Department of Commerce, is traveling to 22 cities across the state this week to present the 2023 Tourism Marketing Grant Awards. Grants totaling $117,780 are designed to assist local tourism organizations such as Great Bend’s CVB with new or innovative marketing.
Russell County Economic Development and CVB will receive $3,280 through this program.
“We know that when local communities are marketing their tourism assets, it helps us at the state level,” Jobe said. “So it’s really a win-win situation for both the state and the local communities when we can help support these new efforts.”
Two things stood out when Great Bend submitted its grant application, Jobe said. The first was Hayes herself.
“She is just a gem. I hope that you guys all enjoy her and appreciate her as much as we do in the tourism industry,” she said.
“But second, I see Great Bend has so developed its tourism offerings over the last few years. You are bringing in so many youth and amateur sports teams, and Great Bend has become a mecca for that. I saw this as a great opportunity to get those families to stay longer.
“One of the things that we saw through the pandemic was that people were traveling a little bit differently. They were looking for that authentic experience,” Jobe said. “I think Great Bend is a perfect example of this; it gives that authentic Kansas feel to it and that’s what visitors are looking for. Tourism is quality of life. And before someone decides to move their family or bring their business to Great Bend, they are going to become a visitor first.”
About the banners
Hayes said she was already planning to purchase the banners but now the grant will pay 40% of the cost, allowing her to use that portion of her budget elsewhere. She has not yet chosen a vendor to produce the banners.
“Fun and colorful,” the banners were designed by Amanda Gaddis at the Great Bend CVB office. They will be 5 feet tall and 2 1/2 feet wide and are designed to stand alone.
“They will be in each of the hotels, the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, one at the Events Center and one that can be moved around – for example, at the Sports Complex when we have a tournament,” Hayes said.
“They will encourage people to shop, stay, play, eat, grow and explore Great Bend. We noticed so many times that we have brochures at all the hotels and out at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, at key points in our community, and here at the CVB Office/Events Center because we’re a Kansas Travel Information Center. We have brochures, which is great; people do pick them up all the time. But we wanted something a little bit extra to capture the attention of those people that might not go over to that brochure rack.”
