FAM Tour makes stop in Rooks County

On April 19, a group of people associated with the Kansas Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism Division visited Northwest Kansas to familiarize themselves with the area and see how they could better market the area to prospective tourist. The FAM Tour, as it is called, was organized by the Northwest Kansas Travel Council.

Scott Allegrucci, Travel and Tourism Director, was one of the members of the group and was quick to point out the possibilities that rural Kansas has to offer. He emphasized that there are possibilities that most of us who have lived here all our life tend to overlook, but someone who has lived somewhere else may find very attractive.

One example was at the Son’s Inn Bed & Breakfast near Stockton. No sooner had they stepped out of their vehicles, than the groups eyes lit up and it was obvious that this location could be sold to visitors looking for an authentic experience. The location is not only an attractively landscaped setting, but it is also a working farm complete with goats, cows, and chickens—animals that we natives find pretty commonplace. This working farm that we might think of as pretty typical, is just what foreign visitors are looking for in a trip to the United States.

Another person in the group was Lisa Weigt, an International Marketing and Public Relations Representative with KDOC. She actually lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona, but works for Kansans by marketing Kansas to tourist most commonly from Germany and Great Britain. And according to her, this is an easy sale. "I visit with people weekly who will pay handsomely to experience this" says Weigt.

One of the others stops on the tour was at a newly-constructed cabin at Webster Lake. The cabin is nice, but has no frills such as mints on the pillow at night, whirpool bath, or monogrammed bathrobes. It does have the basics such as beds, bathroom, and kitchen, but it is the experience that will sell this destination. "Roughing it" in a cabin with a lake view out in the middle of nowhere may be just what the doctor ordered.

Accompanying Allegrucci and Weigt on the tour were Julie Crotinger, a supervisor at the Kansas Travel Information Center near Goodland, and Roger Hrabe, Rooks County Economic Development Director.

Other stops included the Rooks County Courthouse, the Nova Theatre, Sue Veneer’s, and St. Joseph’s Church in Damar.