ࡱ> LNM#` bjbj ;$$;;;`bbbbbb$hm!F@;FF (((F.`(F`((( bt (`0(!~!(!(8;6q(DI;;;;;;FFFFD  Myers Consulting Services 6239 SW 38th Place, Topeka, KS 66610 PH: 785.271.7110 ( Email: myersconsult@sbcglobal.net  REMARKS To a joint meeting of the Kansas Senate Commerce Committee and the Kansas House Economic Development & Tourism Committee January 30, 2008 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for this chance to speak briefly to you today. It is a pleasure to be here as you discuss a critically important investment opportunity for our state. In 1982, I had the pleasure along with other members of Kansass public and private sectors, to start the Travel Industry Association of Kansas. TIAK, which just celebrated its Silver Anniversary this past fall, was founded to accomplish a number of important goals: 1. To provide for a stronger and more unified private sector tourism industry which would work together on behalf of the State of Kansas. 2. To promote a better understanding of the positive economic impact of the visitor industry in our state. 3. To support and encourage a stronger comprehensive effort by the states Travel and Tourism Division to assist individual communities, attractions and facilities. It was an exciting time. Communities across the state were forming Convention and Visitors Bureaus, major convention hotels were being built, and the public was becoming aware of the great potential that visitor industry development had for them and the comjmunities that they represented. Perhaps the greatest early accomplishments of the organization were in building a collaborative private sector industry that began to share best practices, common marketing strategies, and came to realize that we could accomplish much more by working and growing together. It became and is still clear to everyone in this 5.5 Billion Dollar Kansas Industry that success and growth will only occur when the individual efforts of our communities and their visitor industry resources are combined with a well-coordinated, well-funded effort on a state-wide level. Public and private sectors must work together if we are to increase the economic benefits that can come to our communities, their businesses and taxpayers. The Visit Kansas / Kansas Tourism Initiative that you are considering is a visionary plan that focuses on strengthening the industry, promoting and marketing it at a more appropriate level, and increasing the industrys Return On Investment in the form of employment, business revenue, and local and state tax revenue. Make no mistake about it; the Kansas Visitor Industry is big in Kansas. It touches communities and businesses large and small in every corner of our state, and it IS Economic Development. I have ocften said that it is the cleanest industry a community can have. We bring people to town, show them a good time, take their money, and then they go home! Thats clean industry. It is a sad fact that we continue to linger at the bottom in terms of public state dollars invested in promotion, marketing, and advertising efforts, when we have some outstanding communities and attractions to offer to out-of-state visitors. In a highly competitive industry, Kansas can not afford to invest less and less while expecting more and more. For many reasons, the Visit Kansas/Kansas Tourism Initiative has come at the perfect time. While state resources are always tight and demands on state spending are always increasing, the investment opportunities for increased promotion of the visitor industry can return rich rewards to the state and her people: 1. The State of Kansas is ready to be promoted. Over the past twenty-five years communities have strengthened their visitor resources, local attractions and promotional efforts. They are ready to join the state in its efforts to promote Kansas the way it should be promoted to potential visitors. The vast majority of these attractions and facilities are small businesses who need cooperative assistance from the state. 2. The spectacular developments in Wyandotte County, including the Kansas Speedway, Village West, The Legends, and the coming Schlitterbahn facility, are creating a national destination for both U.S. and international visitors. 3. The new Freedoms Frontier National Heritage Area will encompass a large portion of our state in a nationally recognized program that has the potential to bring increased numbers of tourists, scholars, historians, and other visitors to learn about our history and our resources. 4. The State of Kansas is inviting private developers to Invest in excess of one billion dollars in four casinos that will be located in four strategic areas of the state. The casinos and the private developments that will spring up around them will be world-class, and have the potential to be magnet facilities that will attract and retain out of state visitors who can be encouraged to take advantage of other visitor attractions. The State of Kansas has a major stake in the success of these new facilities. 5. The Visitor Industry covers every corner of the state and brings benefits to small communities more than any other Kansas industry with the possible exception of agriculture. Attractions, facilities and events that can be marketed to visitors can also be enjoyed by local residents. In many cases, the attraction of out-of-area visitors and the dollars that they bring with them can make a substantial difference to the bottom lines of small businesses nonprofit organizations and community events. I hope you will give serious consideration to this proposal for an expanded, realistically funded development and promotion program for our states visitor industry. The return on your investment will be exceptional and those returns will be spread across the length and breadth of the state In a way that few other economic development programs can match. Thank you very much for your interest and your consideration of this very important initiative. Respectfully, John A. Myers Myers Consulting Services Topeka, Kansas &(.0QRSuvɷp^Ip) jshlh\ 5@CJOJQJaJ#hlh\ 5@CJOJQJaJh\ 5@CJOJQJaJ&hlh\ 5@CJH*OJQJaJ#hlh\ 5@CJOJQJaJ#h3Eh\ 5@CJOJQJaJ#h3Eh\ 5@CJ(OJQJaJ(h\ 5@CJ(OJQJaJ(#h3Eh\ 5@CJ4OJQJaJ4*jh\ CJ$OJQJUaJ$mHnHuAvxy   5 6 V u d`gdW0dgdW0 $da$gdW0gd\ $a$gd\ vwxyh m Pk }:;QughPQ()BʻhW0hyG@CJ^JaJhW0@CJ^JaJhW0hsl{@CJ^JaJhW0hG@CJ^JaJhW0h\ @CJ^JaJhVqh\ CJ^JaJh3Eh\ CJOJQJaJ1jh\ 5@CJ(OJQJUaJ(mHnHu3u v  U }~:<UdgdW0 d`gdW0OyzQ H*g d^gdW0dgdW0BCWXHITU!$-A⢕tih\ h]}PCJ aJ hmh\ CJ OJQJaJ #hmh\ 5@CJ OJQJaJ hmh\ CJ ^JaJ h\ CJ ^JaJ hW0hsl{@CJ^JaJhW0hyG@CJ^JaJh^@CJ^JaJhW0@CJ^JaJhW0h\ @CJ^JaJhW0hG@CJ^JaJ ^#$$a$gd\ gd\ dgdW021h:pW0/ =!"#$% `!J Os f xU u4SAQDLXlymvjOZV-2$%8Ŭ%,9D r>Cbf^y繟p!}_l$S672)]+nn($]Fwwso?WT6ag}B(WJU7M mlzhfi[ز`c.Tm +o|`v$.N)/Uз*liJiURjhH 5MBV'W4L=5X}_[oe%yg4]?gS--W>QimR }b-7u=Sn8spMCs 1+%BiVJ Ma` ֱv(LH>fXnk?Jhקvq{91k.[sݠP1IoT_S}{{qj :kAC|FNz}?i~V鞫EOBfvCW#^N?eWY-DYLYx]e\Q6lgC&Vac>1b &a<"ml= ]-ښI4D]AMTGel}a{d۩Zo[ϵ>*۠eNKlZjͱUa+-d$[HcmRɯlFeɴ!`rnɼ%zޕɘT$#I.xI/S/ۯ M>P 5PԅBRtq?bQ]Flא8: A؍؊MYJd`Q<o1X>َ4;sl/|m5'7QmEZ?bM 5l>Kz/뽽wП&[xS7╺l;*r|Ac}x߱wMeTy~Ȗ^ؿdnMbhr켧>V(2b#_ld=UZVQUPPbQnrqq G;)UXŘtD`"=zY*6'tKh_-Z9E<}~R%HQSI2'4qj|=I/**R-|VieҾJϷB;(/ƿ"y8HoIC{]Svi~G:J+}c-wI6m|޲Ȳ5y%ٖ,"{V#/Ne{R9T0#M!3Sjx \M О:tCOk}2?e#qMda&1ITLD'1%QQITHFH؇|c8#. #a c6F5'aʣ"j!)^5Y(5Y))Y*'DfD,y~qכ$*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PostalCode9%*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsState8&*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsCity:'*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsStreet;(*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsaddress>#*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PersonName ?('&%$#"%"%%"%"%"%%"%"%"%"%%"&" "%"%"%"&% kkg h !!++ZZ`GW0yG]}P^sl{\ ]R@@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial1 Alba;Wingdings"qhF:FE +E +!r42HX)?\ 2Myers Consulting Services John Myers John MyersOh+'0 ( H T `lt|Myers Consulting Services John Myers Normal.dot John Myers3Microsoft Office Word@6@4b@,8bE՜.+,0 hp|  +  Myers Consulting Services Title  !"#$%'()*+,-./012345689:;<=>@ABCDEFIRoot Entry F]bKData 1Table&!WordDocument;SummaryInformation(7DocumentSummaryInformation8?CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qRoot Entry FP/"lbPData 1Table&!WordDocument;  !"#$%'()*+,-./012345689:;<=>OSummaryInformation(7DocumentSummaryInformation8xCompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q՜.+,D՜.+,D hp|  +  Myers Consulting Services Title4 $,