By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
When it comes to tourism, there are many different avenues to attract visitors to your town. History, art, attractions and sports are all near the top of the list to interest folks to visiting a community. Possibly a lesser known approach is to schedule large meetings or conferences where groups around the state or region come to attend.
The Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau is part of the ‘Meet Kansas’ coalition in an effort to get meeting planners to schedule their events in Great Bend. Kansas Tourism Director Bridgette Jobe was in Great Bend Wednesday morning to present Meet Kansas representatives with a $10,000 grant.
"One of the things we really try to push with tourism is collaboration," said Jobe. "Meet Kansas is such a great example of this. Bringing in meeting planners and telling them the story of Kansas...I love it. We love multi-cities, multi-counties and multi-regions working together."
Great Bend is among 18 communities throughout Kansas that is a member in Meet Kansas. The grant will assist in the first Meet Kansas showcase where all the members will gather in Topeka this year. Each community will have a booth with local products and information to recruit meeting and conference planners.