President's Report

Your 2025 TIAK Wrapped 

Landing the Chiefs is quite a way to end the year. But looking at the "stats,” it is incredible to see what we accomplished together all year long.

Here is your TIAK Year in Review: 

Top Destinations We didn't just stay home; we showed up where it mattered.

• Topeka: For Destination Statehouse and multiple advocacy visits. 
• Washington D.C.: For Destination Capitol Hill. 
• Kansas City, KS: Sharpening skills at the Education Seminar. 
• Manhattan: Celebrating our resilience at the Kansas Tourism Conference. 

Most Played Tracks: Our "top hits" this year were all about amplifying our voice through advocacy. We kept the volume up for the Sunflower Summer program and began advocating for the Sports Tourism Bill, all while vigorously protecting the Kansas Tourism budget. 

The Deep Cuts: The monthly Tourism Huddles kept us sharp. We covered a diverse mix of topics, from leveraging the Arts and Rural Prosperity to mastering LinkedIn and Google Business Pages. We also got a head start on the future, with sessions dedicated to the 2026 World Cup and America 250. 

In the Studio: We spent the last six months laying down the tracks for our future in a 2026-2030 Strategic Plan. While still a work in progress, the surveys and scenario planning we completed have set the rhythm for the next five years. 

Favorite Genres: A new website. Puppies. A baby donkey, llama and hedgehog. Taco tours. AI. Scoring a great table at the Marketing Awards. 2031. 

Diss Tracks: State budget cuts. Snowstorms. Arts funding. Not getting your song played at Singo. The phrase “Flyover Country.” 

Up Next: The playlist for 2026 is queued up, and I am thrilled to pass the mic to Megan Welsh of the Dodge City CVB. With the World Cup and America 250 on the horizon, it is going to be a historic year. 

Thank you for letting me help mix the playlist this year. It has been an honor. 

Alan Carr

with Visit Kansas City Kansas

Destination Statehouse

Join us February 11–12, 2026, as we come together once again to advocate for the power of travel in Kansas. This is your annual opportunity to connect with industry leaders from across the state and speak directly with legislators about the issues that shape our success.

Everything you need to plan your time in Topeka—from schedules to session details—can be found on the Destination Statehouse event page, which will continue to be updated as we get closer to February.

Sponsorships are now available!

We invite all TIAK members to help elevate this year’s event by partnering with us as a sponsor. Let’s make 2026 our most impactful—and most enjoyable—Destination Statehouse yet. Click here to view sponsorship opportunities.

The 2026 TIAK Legislative Reception will have a different feel this year. The venue will be the Children’s Discovery Center in Topeka. The museum has undergone a major expansion and we will be able to showcase this during our event. We will not have the traditional showcasing of regions, but more of a mix and mingle with legislators. The cocktail tables will be set so that each region will have a landing spot. Member’s will be able to showcase their communities in different ways. Since we are in a different venue, members can bring small food and drink items as well. The theme will be “America 250” showcasing how communities across Kansas will celebrate this event.  

We are excited to host legislators in a different venue with a different feel. As always, legislative turnout is best when local communities personally invite their legislators. We will have an invitation for you to email or print and hand deliver to them so that they know someone from their local community will be in Topeka. Please contact the TIAK office with any questions or concerns.

KTC 2026 Planning Is Underway—We Want Your Ideas



KTC 2026 planning is underway. If you have a great speaker or session idea, please send information to Marlee Carpenter at marlee@brightcarpenter.com 

Click here for more Kansas 250

Resources & Partners

The Kansas 250 Commission is excited to collaborate with the following National and Kansas State Agencies, as well as various businesses and non-profits across Kansas:



• America 250
• The White House - America 250
• Eisenhower Foundation
• Humanities Kansas
• Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks
• Kansas Museums Association
• Kansas Volunteer Commission
• United States Conference of Mayors
• Kansas Music Educators Association
• State of Kansas Library

As the nation approaches its upcoming Semiquincentennial in 2026, the Kansas 250 Commission will lead the state's efforts in commemorating this eventful moment in American history. The Kansas 250 Commission will also collaborate with local communities and partner organizations to provide a wide array of activities and events focused on America's 250th birthday. Click below for a starting point to spark your own celebration ideas!

State Fair Input Needed

The Kansas State Fair is looking for input regarding the 250th Birthday Celebration. Please review the below suggestions. Please provide input on the below or any other suggestions to Holly Lofton and Bryan Schulz.

• A very large State Map on the floor of the Bison Arena broke out by counties and having each county bring items that represent their county i.e., ag products, industry, commodities…
• Creating a banner for each county in Kansas to celebrate the 250^th Birthday and have them placed throughout the grounds in the approximate location as they are within the state. Approximate cost per county $300 - $350.
• Moving the Explore Kansas Booths to the Bison Arena for that last weekend to tie into the celebration.
• We will be having most of our contests surrounding the 250^th – i.e., apron contests, baking, educational options. These will all be announced in each of the department’s handbooks.
• Working with other state agencies including the library and museums to create displays.

Click HERE for a list of areas within the competitions area that will have special America 250 themes.

Join TIAK and Kansas Tourism for a virtual Kansas tourism industry huddle the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 1 PM CT. View past huddles here.

Chiefs' Kansas move may generate $4.4B in economic impact

The Kansas City Chiefs have announced plans to relocate from Missouri to Kansas by 2031, with a $3 billion stadium and mixed-use development in Wyandotte County and a new headquarters in Olathe. The relocation is projected to generate more than 20,000 jobs and bring in over $4.4 billion in economic impact for the state. The project, supported by a public-private financing model, is seen as a catalyst for tourism, job creation and regional growth, signaling significant economic benefits for Kansas. Read more HERE

Amtrak Southwest Chief ridership climbs 12.6% in last year

Ridership on the Amtrak Southwest Chief, running from Los Angeles to Chicago, has increased by 12.6% over the past year, reflecting a growing interest in long-distance train travel despite the service not yet reaching pre-pandemic levels. The train offers a distinctly nostalgic train experience, trading the hassles of air travel for relaxed journeys through sweeping desert and prairie landscapes. Onboard, passengers enjoy the camaraderie of shared dining, large windows in the Sightseer Lounge and a variety of travel classes including private rooms, roommettes and coach seating. Read more HERE

Quick - End of Year - Update from U.S. Travel

2025 has been every bit as disruptive—and perhaps more—as we could have expected. At U.S. Travel, we made an early choice: stay focused on the issues that matter most to travelers and the areas where our engagement can make the greatest difference.

We’ve undoubtedly experienced setbacks. But our strategy also enabled the industry to achieve substantial results and position itself for greater success in 2026.

1. Developing a Working Partnership with the White House: The travel industry secured sustained, direct engagement with the White House and senior administration leaders following President Trump’s inauguration. Travel earned a seat at the table on White House task forces for America 250 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, ensuring direct representation alongside the president. We deepened engagement with Secretary Duffy and the Department of Transportation during the launch of the Great American Road Trip, affirming travel’s role in connecting communities and driving economic growth. We were outspoken in calling for an end to the government shutdown—asserting travel’s authority and, in doing so, deepening our partnership with senior White House and Cabinet leaders. And in 2025, the industry demanded support through the GREAT USA Coalition by positioning travel as a prerequisite for hosting major global events.
2. Delivering Improvements to the Travel Experience: Credibility produced results. Early in the year, the Commission on Seamless and Secure Travel’s report warned that the United States was not ready to host global demand at scale. By year’s end, the trajectory has shifted. TSA ended the shoe-removal rule. Visa processing accelerated. Congress committed $12.5 billion for air traffic control upgrades, more Customs officers in airports and $673 million to expand the biometric entry-exit system and opened the door to new Visa Waiver Program countries. We also fought to reverse difficult setbacks, defending Brand USA funding, delaying the $250 Visa Integrity Fee and advocating for air traffic controllers and TSA officers to remain paid during future government shutdowns.
3. Driving Message Discipline and Reputational Gains: In a volatile year, disciplined messaging became a strategic advantage. The Travel Is Essential campaign established a fact-based case for travel’s role in job creation, economic growth and U.S. competitiveness. Our monthly messaging guides aligned the industry to speak with one voice and stay focused on facts, rather than emotion. This disciplined approach paid off, driving national media coverage and giving the industry a seat at the table at the highest levels of government—a signal that travel is valued as a serious, solution-oriented partner. Separately, we put hard numbers behind the cost of falling inbound travel, pushed them into the media and reframed the growing travel deficit as a direct threat to U.S. competitiveness—making a strong case for the need to improve the traveler experience beginning the moment visitors decide to visit.
4. Setting an Industry-led Strategy: The industry’s 2025 strategy was shaped by those who build, sell and operate travel every day: our members. Input from leadership sessions across international inbound, group, domestic leisure, communications and policy identified priority challenges and areas requiring action. Output included the U.S. Entry Guide for International Visitors, developed with CBP to counter misinformation, and the activation of a network of 100 group travel leaders advancing a data-backed case for the value of face-to-face meetings. At scale, our convenings drove alignment and impact: Destination Capitol Hill mobilized more than 400 leaders to engage 90 Senate offices and more than half the House of Representatives ahead of the global decade of events, while IPW—projected to generate $26B in future economic impact—alongside ESTO and Summer Summit created high-value opportunities to connect and do business.
5.  Leading with Data: In 2025, international inbound lagged, group and business travel recovered unevenly and leisure demand remained resilient, particularly among the affluent—making anecdotes unreliable and data essential. We launched monthly reporting, conducted new polling and delivered a steady, fact-based readout of the travel economy to policymakers and the media. The numbers spoke for themselves, strengthening the case for modernizing the travel system and driving results in Washington. That same discipline is shaping our priorities for 2026 as the industry prepares for the opportunity ahead with the 2026 FIFA World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary. 

Thank you for everything you have done this year to support our industry. Looking forward to making greater strides in 2026. Happy Holidays.

Geoff Freeman

President and CEO

U.S. Travel Association

Labor Market Report

Please find the link below to the September Labor Market report. Due to the lapse in federal funding during the federal government shutdown, all Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) operations were suspended from Oct. 1, 2025, through Nov. 12, 2025. As a result, KDOL will not publish a separate report for the October 2025 Kansas Labor Report. Establishment survey data from the Current Employment Statistics program for October 2025 will be published with the November 2025 datat. Household survey data from the Current Population Survey, which serve as the primary input to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics models, were not collected for the October 2025 reference period due to a lapse in appropriations and will not be collected retroactively. The November 2025 Kansas Labor Report will be released January 7, 2026. The release for December 2025 has not yet been finalize.

September 2025 Labor Market Report: Click Here!

Scroll down to Labor Report Documents for the News Release and Labor Force Data for the “Interactive Labor Force Dashboard” and “Printable County Unemployment Rate Map”.

November Lodging Report

TIAK has an agreement with Smith Travel Research (STR) to provide members with statewide reports on hotel occupancy each month. The following data is provided directly from STR:

Monthly and YTD Comparisons

Kansas had 62% property participation and 78% hotel room participation in November.

For additional opportunities to grow your career or post job opportunities within your organization, see additional listings HERE

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Tourism Huddle

Second Wednesday of each month

January 14

TIAK Executive Committee Meetings

January 8

March 12

May 14

August 12

September 10

November 12

TIAK Board Meetings

February 12

April 9

June 11

August 13

October 20

December 10

Event Dates

Destination Statehouse

February 11-12 - Topeka