The power of travel
The following 2021 facts come from the Kansas Tourism Office:
• Tourism brought 33.7 million visitors.
• They spent $7 billion.
• 16 cents of each of those dollars were spent in Kansas retail stores.
• This spending helps support over 60,000 jobs.
• Each traveler is worth about $207 per day.
• Overnight visitors account for 75.6% of all visitor spending.
• Leisure travel accounts for 68% of all visitor spending, with business travel making up the balance.
One youth softball tournament can bring in over $500,000 into the community. That is just one of the impacts tourism has on the local economy, said Great Bend Community Coordinator and Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Christina Hayes said, speaking to the City Council Monday night.
“Last week was National Tourism week,” she said. “I just want to go over a couple facts, because as a board member for the (Kansas Tourism Office) it is part of our job to share what Kansas tourism does with our councils and boards.”
She gave an example of the impact in Great Bend. If a family of four would come from Oklahoma and take a three-day trip, spend two nights in a hotel, eat their meals, pay for gas and stop for miscellaneous snack, etc., they would drop over $800.
And, for a girl’s softball team coming for a two-day tournament, the total could be over $8,000, including lodging, meals, snacks and souvenirs, she said. Some tourneys bring in 60 to 80 softball or baseball teams.
“That just shows you the impact of it,” she said.
Another less obvious benefit is the taxes tourism generates. “Each Kansan would have an additional tax of $613 to replace what tourism brings into the state,” she said.
In Barton County, that total is $267.60. “So that’s what we’re saving through our tourism efforts,” she said.
She said her local tourism group met last Friday and discussed their goals and ideas to keep this momentum. They are looking at: Bundled weekend packages (like a girls weekend or a hunting weekend) which would include the hotel, meals and incidentals; continuing to grow the Be Our Guest online customer service academy to strengthen frontline service; help find a way to track Brit Spaugh Zoo attendance better, since estimates are that about 80% of visitors are not local; and continue to represent Great Bend and state and regional tourism efforts.
“We are also going to seek and invite conventions and attractions with visitors to town,” she said. “And then continue to promote Great Bend statewide and beyond and encourage overnight stays.”
