Volume 21, Issue 3 | March 2024

TIAK TALK NEWSLETTER

Published monthly for members of the Travel Industry Association of Kansas.

President's Report

By Holly Lofton

Lindsborg CVB

As I jot this April message to each of you, I am currently preparing for Messiah Festival of the Arts while also packing for Destination Statehouse in Washington D.C. I look forward to both!

Messiah Festival of the Arts truly marks the beginning of tourism in Lindsborg. Not knowing how this annual performance of Handel’s Messiah would be received or how it would open the floodgates to visitors, a handful of Swedes began practicing in the early months 1881. Anna Swensson’s primary purpose for leading these practices was to bring lonely Swedish settlers from the plains of central Kansas together to fellowship and to learn English, the Messiah being a perfect piece to provide this practice due to the repetitive nature of the composition. Mission accomplished, the first performance saw Anna step down to an invited male guest conductor to direct the formal performance, as this task was not considered appropriate for a woman in 1881. Today, this annual event is known to be the longest running performance of the Messiah in North America. And, thanks to a group of Lindsborg women, a statue of Anna Swensson now stands in Swensson Park, a tribute to her diligent spirit, and hard-working hands that constructed many of Lindsborg’s early successes as well as those of the Lutheran Church throughout the world. We continue to tell her story and the story of how tourism truly began in Lindsborg, not with our Swedish-ness that most correlate with Lindsborg, but with music and fellowship and the willingness to share with others.

What are you cultivating and sharing today? Who knows…whatever it is might just kick off things you never considered.

To the Stars,

Holly Lofton

TIAK Participates in Destination Capitol Hill

Members of the Travel Industry Association of Kansas (TIAK) recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of the U.S. Travel Association’s Destination Capitol Hill. During their visit, they engaged in productive discussions with Senator Jerry Moran, Congressman Jake LaTurner, and Congresswoman Sharice Davids, as well as staff members from the offices of Senator Roger Marshall, Congressman Ron Estes, and Congressman Tracey Mann. The topics of discussion included reducing Visa wait times, with a specific focus on its impact on World Cup visitors, addressing FAA challenges, and advocating for the appointment of the Assistant Secretary of Travel and Tourism. These discussions are crucial for ensuring a thriving tourism industry in Kansas and beyond.

Pictured above during the visit are Jim Zaleski (City of Parsons & Labette County Economic Development and Tourism), Senator Jerry Moran, Melissa Dixon (Hays Convention and Visitors Bureau), Megan Welsh (Dodge City Convention and Visitors Bureau), Alan Carr (Visit Kansas City Kansas), Holly Lofton (Lindsborg Convention and Visitors Bureau), and Julie Roller Weeks (Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau).

Membership Incentive

Events

Kansas Tourism Conference Hotel Block

Reserve your room for the Kansas Tourism Conference in Olathe, October 21-23, 2024. The event will take place at the Olathe Conference Center with the room block at the same location through Embassy Suites. Single or double occupancy rooms are $149/night plus tax.

Reserve your room

2026 KTC Request for Proposals

Proposals are being sought for the 2026 Kansas Tourism Conference. Proposals are anticipated to be submitted through coordinated community efforts of the local DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) such as the Chamber, CVB, City in cooperation with lodging, meeting, and attractions facilities to be considered. CVBs and DMOs that are TIAK members will be given preference. Conference locations will be balanced between regions.

Past locations include:

2024: Olathe
2023: Dodge City
2022: Wichita
2021: Liberal
2019: Mulvane
2018: Junction City
2017: Garden City
2016: Olathe
2015: Wichita
2014: Manhattan

View the RFP

Kansas Infrastructure Summit

Cities, counties, tribal governments, regional planning organizations, and the private sector are encouraged to attend the Kansas Infrastructure Summit to hear the latest about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding opportunities, learn about resources available to help pursue grant funding and deliver projects, and discuss current issues and needs related to BIL. Read more.

National Travel and Tourism Week Toolkit

National Travel and Tourism Week is an annual tradition for the U.S. travel community. It’s a time when travel and tourism professionals across the country unite to celebrate the value travel holds for our economy, businesses, communities and personal well-being. Save the date for the upcoming 2024 celebration!

Mark National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW), and demonstrate travel's essential role in stimulating economic growth, cultivating vibrant communities and creating quality job opportunities. The travel industry fuels every industry, in every community - and our success is the nation's success.

Moving #TravelForward begins with you. Explore the #nttw24 toolkit resources here.

Action Alert

Grow Kansas Film - Contact Your Legislators

Grow Kansas Film is a coalition of film professionals aimed at supporting the film industry through advocacy and education around film-friendly legislation in Kansas. Join Grow Kansas Film in advocating for the reinstatement of Kansas' statewide film incentive. This important economic development program will make Kansas competitive for film and television work resulting in millions of dollars of spend in our state, jobs and workforce development in an expanding field. Read more. Click here for information on filmmaking tax incentive bills in Kansas.

If you are willing to advocate for passage of the film incentive legislation contact your Kansas lawmakers and ask they support the Conference Committee Report on House Bill 2234. Contact information for lawmakers can be found here: House and Senate.

In the News

Running With Pancakes

This year marks the 75th anniversary of what's known as the Pancake Day Race in the southwest Kansas town of Liberal. It's an oddity, but these types of community festivals offer economic and less tangible benefits to smaller towns. Read more.

Kansas Tourism Earns Four Marketing Awards

North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) recently announced that Kansas Tourism received four awards in the 32nd Annual NATJA Awards Competition. The four awards presented to Kansas Tourism include Destination of the Year Award, Creative Marketing Campaign, Gold Award, Destination Video, Bronze Award, and Travel Guide, Honorable Mention Award. Read more.

Millions earmarked for statewide airport improvement project

Governor Laura Kelly announced that 58 projects at 37 airports have been selected to receive $14.3 million through the Kansas Airport Improvement Program (KAIP). The Kansas Department of Transportation's Division of Aviation received 135 applications seeking more than $84 million for projects in this round of KAIP grants. The selected projects focus on pavement preservation, safety, and air ambulance accessibility. Read more.

Kelly Names New Wildlife Secretary

Gov. Laura Kelly named an assistant director at the Missouri Department of Conservation as the new secretary for Kansas parks and wildlife. Kelly tapped Chris Kennedy to replace Brad Loveless, who is retiring officially in April. Kennedy will start in his acting role on March 18. His appointment will need to be confirmed by the Senate. Read more.

Kansas Infrastructure Summit

Cities, counties, tribal governments, regional planning organizations and the private sector are encouraged to attend the Kansas Infrastructure Summit April 24, 2024 in Salina. Join us to hear the latest about Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding opportunities, learn about resources available to help pursue grant funding and deliver projects, and discuss current issues and needs related to BIL.

A registration link and additional information will be available on the Kansas Infrastructure Hub website and distributed via email soon.

Help us tailor the Summit content to your needs! Please take this quick survey and tell us about your experience with BIL and what resources would be most helpful.

The Summit is being hosted by the Kansas Infrastructure Hub. The Infrastructure Hub is Kansas' coordinated approach to identifying best practices from across the nation for deploying funds and maximizing Kansas' BIL opportunities in transportation, energy, broadband, water, and cybersecurity. Questions? Email bil@ks.gov

Labor Market Report

Please find the link below to the February 2024 Labor Market report. The March 2024 Labor Report will be released on Friday, April 19, 2024.

February 2024 Labor Market Report: https://klic.dol.ks.gov/vosnet/gsipub/documentView.aspx?enc=O+qpCkhjA+v3dzYVbAEMjQ==

Scroll down and click on “Labor Force Data” for the “Interactive Labor Force Dashboard” and “Printable County Unemployment Rate Map”.

Travel Trends

February 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 61% property participation and 77% hotel room participation in February.

The U.S. Travel Association published its latest Monthly Data Report, exclusively for U.S. Travel members. Here are key highlights from last month's report.

Key January Highlights

Travel appetite started the year on a softer note, but overall growth continued. Air passenger growth remained positive, up 6% versus the prior year but lower than the double-digit growth seen through 2023. Foreign visits remained strong, up 24% YoY.
Hotel room demand continued a trend of slight contraction falling 1% versus the prior year, while short-term rental demand grew 1%, a lower rate than 2023.
A particular bright spot was that group room demand within the top 25 markets displayed solid growth of 9% relative to the prior year.
The outlook for the economy remains fairly optimistic due to the strength of the labor market, looser financial conditions and healthy household and nonfinancial corporate balance sheets. This has filtered through to slightly higher consumer sentiment in February.
Sentiment is also growing for upcoming leisure travel in 2024. The share of travelers reporting having travel plans within the next six months increased to 93% in January from 92% in December, according to Longwoods International’s monthly survey.
Travel price inflation (TPI) fell slightly in January as a result of falling transportation prices. Sticky services inflation should see relief from decelerating wage growth. However, upside risks stem from rising healthcare costs, supply chain disruptions and slowing labor supply.