Visit KC’s annual tourism outlook pushed 2023’s successes but left an unspecific path toward World Cup

Visit KC CEO Kathy Nelson speaks at Annual Tourism Outlook // photo by Emily Jacobs

Over 300 business professionals gathered at the Midland Theatre Wednesday for Visit KC’s Annual Tourism Outlook. The event is a chance for business-leaders to outline the city’s recent successes and chart a path for fiscal success in the coming year—a chance for the rest of the city to get a look at the top-down initiatives and narrative focus for encouraging travel and investment in the metro.

What was the general thrust of this year’s event? Well, much like last year’s event the focus this year was on KC’s rising star in the national scene, and a victory lap for the NFL Draft events. 

Visit KC Chair Jeanette Prenger opened the program, lauding the organization’s accomplishments in the last several years and introducing Mayor Quinton Lucas. Lucas referred to Kansas City as “up and coming,” with many new businesses sprouting since COVID=10. He claimed he has heard from several leaders about the “exceptional success” of the NFL Draft last April. 

MMGY Global CEO Katie Briscoe took the stage next. She explained that travel bookings have slowly returned to the level they were at pre-COVID and that they have great potential to grow over the next couple of years—and Kansas City could be in “no better position” to benefit from these travel conditions. Briscoe stated that while inflation is worrying for many travelers, this is not a concern for the market because commercial and business travel is picking up.

Visit KC President and CEO Kathy Nelson closed out the program, discussing the positive effects of the NFL Draft—such as the number of visitors brought to KC and the enlargement of the national spotlight on the city. She followed this up by presenting the Visit KC Tourism Icon award to Union Station President and CEO George Guastello, who played a significant role in hosting the NFL Draft.

Nelson explained that more future events are coming to Kansas City, where more money will be raised from hotel bookings. She also talked about the hosting of the NCAA Volleyball and Wrestling championships coming up and, most importantly, KC hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

Nelson announced a partnership with MMGY Global to support these future events in KC. She reminded the crowd that the streetcar expansion project will be completed in 2025, just in time for the World Cup.

“Core to our mission is advancing the quality of life in Kansas City,” says Nelson.

But throughout the program, the achievements touted were those of the money that was being brought into the city and the magnification of our place on the world map, and upcoming plans to keep the money and tourism coming in—no mention was made of what this would mean for KC residents.

The NFL Draft was exciting for Kansas Citians and brought a great deal of money in for the travel industry and the businesses that were a part of it. But many of the businesses that were not part of the draft saw a dip in sales. Streets were closed for days even after the draft and parking prices were raised, which negatively affected the stream of customers into the doors of some local businesses.

“Putting Kansas City ‘on the map’ is important for sure, but at what cost?” writes Café Cà Phê in an April 30 Instagram post. on the subject of local impact for businesses amid these grander endeavors. “The literal folks who keep the city going, the restaurants, the shops, the people who LIVE and WORK here gotta be prioritized better when all these big ass things come in.”

There is also the question of how World Cup attendees will get to Arrowhead Stadium from downtown KC. With no reliable public transportation between the two, as the streetcar only runs north to south, I-70 will be backed up with rental cars and buses throughout the duration of the event. Mayor Lucas has previously mentioned light rail and increased bus service to Arrowhead, but neither of these things were brought up.

A glaring omission from the Annual Tourism Outlook is how Visit KC plans to address these issues ahead of the World Cup. The impact of the KC travel industry’s ventures on the people of Kansas City seems to have been lost in translation.