What Does Your Meeting or Conference Mean to Garden City?

It's Sunday afternoon and you would love to put your feet up and relax or work on a project that you have been putting off for months but you can't! You have to pack your bags, fuel up your car and hit the road for a two day conference out of town. If you're lucky this never happens to you but for many of us this is happens all too often. Have you stopped for a second to consider how great it would be to have your meeting, conference, tournament, festival or event right here in your home town! Many times we don't stop to think of the economic impact your event could and would have on Garden City if you hosted your event. Consider for a moment the difference you felt in Garden City on the weekend of January 18th. Were the lines a little longer at the gas station, your favorite restaurant or while stopping by to pick up a few items at Target? We were blessed to have roughly 2000 more visitors than usual floating around our fine community that weekend. Garden City High School hosted the Kansas High School Activities Association State Debate Championships for 2007. I love the feeling I get when I drive around town and see parking lots full and gas stations with lines. This means the spot light is on "Garden" and we are ready to greet our visitors with open arms. It also means a nice economic impact for business owners. Whether it is a two day debate tournament or a week long rodeo the impact is felt in retail stores, gas stations, hoteliers, restaurants, and many other businesses. So the next time you have an opportunity to bid on or offer to host your next meeting or conference consider staying home on Sunday, sleeping in your own bed and driving just 5 minutes to your event. The Convention & Tourism Bureau would love to help you bid on or host your event in Garden City. Just give us a call at 276-3264 and we will do all we can to help showcase Garden City!