Take a look at the latest on the COVID-19
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Dear Tourism Industry,

What a trying few days this has been and we know there are many hard days ahead of us.  As we prepared to send out this latest update on COVID-19, I want to take a moment to share some personal thoughts.  

In the past few days, I have been completely blown away with the people who represent the Kansas Tourism Industry.  Our industry is going through an extremely difficult time, we all have more questions than answers, and many of us have had times these past few days of feeling completely at a loss with what to do next.  Amid all of that, I have never been prouder to be a part of the Kansas Tourism Industry.  You continue to be thoughtful and strategic in your decisions, you are developing creative and innovative ways of providing for our visitors, and most importantly, you are looking out for each other.

We have challenging days ahead of us. I do not have all the answers.  What I can promise you is that I, along with the entire Kansas Tourism team, am working hard to champion and support the Kansas hospitality industry.  We will do everything we can to find the answers together. 

Please continue to keep in touch. We will be ok.   

 

Ad Astra per Aspera, my friends.

Bridgette Jobe, Director of Tourism 

 

Updates You Should Know

(Please note bolded updates are new)
 
  • Governor Kelly announced the Hospitality Industry Relief Emergency (HIRE) Fund to assist hospitality businesses seeking emergency loans in response to the economic impacts of COVID-19. The loan program, administered by the Kansas Department of Commerce and NetWork Kansas, offers loans up to $20,000 at 0% interest for a term of three years. Learn more about the HIRE Fund.
  • Starting Monday, March 23, Kansas Tourism staff will be following Governor Kelly's directive of social distancing. We will be working from home, although we will have some limitations on email and work access. Please continue to reach out to us. It may take us a little longer to get back with you, but we are continuing to work on your behalf. 
  • Kansas State Parks are still open to the public. We are inviting the public to use these facilities especially now. While minimizing the potential for employee exposure, we need to keep facilities clean and user friendly. A visible presence is very important as is our ability to respond if needed. Offices will be closed to walk-in traffic but signage on the front door will give a phone number that will be responded to M-F, 8am-5pm.
  • For partners who advertise via DTN on TravelKS.com, DTN announced yesterday evening their decision to pause all billing for a two-month period, April 1 - May 31, 2020. During this period, the Destination Travel Network will continue to be fully staffed and all local businesses will continue to receive the benefit of the continuation of their advertising campaigns. For more information, please reach out to your DTN rep.
  • The Goodland and Belle Plaine Travel Centers are currently closed. While the TICs won't be staffed, Travel Guides will continue to be displayed and restocked
    • We support local decisions to close community TICs as needed. Many community TICs have already closed and we expect to see more as the week progresses.
  • We are continually updating the traveler-friendly COVID-19 page on TravelKS.com. We will continue to update as the situation evolves.

Things You Can Do  

(Please note bolded updates are new)
 
  • Please make sure you are a member of the Kansas Tourism Industry Facebook Group. This will be the easiest, quickest way we can reach out to industry members over the next two weeks. 
  • Continue to let us know the impact of cancellations and lost business in your community.
  • Continue to update events on the TravelKS.com websites as more cancellations or reschedulings roll in.
  • Continue to monitor your social media postings and website updates during this time. If there is a question about whether something is appropriate for the circumstances, please air on the side of caution. 

 

More Resources

U.S. Travel Association Emergency Preparedness and Response
Rolling Updates from WHO
KDHE
Meeting and Events Industry
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