Opportunities for Local Economic Development through Experiential Tourism in the Flint Hills

Kansas Flint Hills Presentation
Matrix of Opportunity Presented by Ted Eubanks in Wamego 18 August 2006. (16.8MB PowerPoint Presentation)

In fall 2004, the Kansas Department of Commerce, Travel and Tourism Division contracted with FERMATA Inc., to provide a strategic assessment of experiential tourism opportunities and recommendations for action as part of the administration’s efforts to effectively and responsibly develop the potential of the Flint Hills region of the state. In March 2005, a series of meetings were held to provide tourism and economic development representatives from the region and from key gateway communities an overview of the FERMATA and Commerce work in the region, as it related particularly to the experiential tourism component of a sustainable regional development plan. Based upon recommendations received from local community members and state agency representatives, Fermata site assessors completed evaluations of natural, historical, and cultural sites from April 18 - June 30.

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Executive Summary (19.8MB)
Full Report (21.9 MB)

In an effort to demonstrate how a travel and tourism strategy could be deployed at Interstate Rest Areas, Fermata's interpretative services team worked on an early implementation project with the Office of Tourism and other state agency partners to plan and design a series interpretive panels and an accompanying brochure on the Flint Hills nature, history and culture (available for download below). Thematically unified by a core message, "Great Plains' Imagination and Experience", the panels interpret such storylines as Nomadic Peoples; Herds, Flocks, Caravans; Promised Land; Sun, Wind, Rain, Fire; World Above, World Below ; Cowboy Country; and Prairie Flowering.

Cowboy Country (2.7MB)
Herds, Flocks, and Caravans (2.6MB)
Nomadic Peoples (2.7MB)
Prairie Flowering (horizontal) (2.7MB)
Prairie Flowering (vertical) (1.6MB)
Kansas, the Promised Land (horizontal) (3.8MB)
Kansas, the Promised Land (vertical) (2.4MB)
Sun, Wind, Fire and Rain (horizontal) (2.6MB)
Sun, Wind, Fire and Rain (vertical) (1.7MB)
Tallgrass Prairie in Motion (horizontal) (2.7MB)
Tallgrass Prairie in Motion (vertical) (1.6MB)
World Above, World Below (2.7MB)

Brochure (3.1MB)

Contact FERMATA project manager: Mary Jeanne Packer

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