The Kansas City-Seville connection: welcoming international visitors to America's heartland

In 1492 when Columbus and his seaworn navigators first set foot on the nearest land we know as America, the confluence of the Missouri River and the Kansas River was surrounded by an isolated plain.

It was 350 years before this corner of these two waterways supported a town, bustling with a population of natives and frontiersmen, soon to be known as Kansas City, in a state called Missouri, only recently carved out of the huge territory known as the Louisiana Purchase.

Today this grand young city sits at the center of America's Heartland, rich in industry, rich in agriculture, avid in the arts and sciences, strong in learning and, most importantly, warm in friendliness and hospitality. This beautiful city in today's Missouri is surrounded by the interesting and scenic states of Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma: a land shaped by the forested hills and valleys of the mid-south, not far from Iowa, Texas, and Nebraska.

The contemporary traveler coming to Kansas City on company business is always surprised by the pleasant atmosphere of this central metropolis and its surroundings, and the friendly welcome of the people who live and work here. For the knowing tourist who has seen everything else in the United States from New York to Miami, or Chicago and San Francisco, this amiable greeting from Kansas City is often unexpected. This is true for our domestic visitors, who quickly learn that Kansas City is a safe and casual town, but this characteristic is even more important for the traveler from overseas - especially the Europeans. There is good reason for this, and undoubtedly there are many other fine, thriving warm-hearted towns and cities in America's Heartland.

The Importance of Tourism

The significance of tourism in the American economy, as well as its importance as a societal and environmental instrument, is not well known. In 1992, U.S. domestic tourism generated consumption of $314 billion worth of goods and services. Tourists arriving from abroad added $57 billion, for a total of $371 billion spent on tourism within the United States alone. In the next few years, the amount spent on tourism worldwide will reach an astounding $3 trillion. This makes tourism the most lucrative composite industry in the world.

Although most of our tourism-receiving states and cities are fully aware of this splendid source of revenue in their respective venues, and are also aggressively promoting tourism for their destinations, many are still reluctant to venture into the difficult process of corralling visitors from abroad or negotiating business arrangements in foreign markets.

Kansas City's understanding of the opportunities for reaching into foreign markets is remarkable, serving as a model of how to do it. With support from many major tourism-related associates, the Kansas City business community and interested individuals are working toward a program for promotional undertakings, limited to specific targeted international markets, to be implemented aggressively, and which will put Kansas City on the global tourism map. The elements of this program have a unique history. It began long ago in a sociological relationship with Seville, Spain as a "Sister City." It continued for several decades with the understanding of the essential needs of visiting tourism and travelers: to provide and maintain the realism of touristic attractions focusing on Spain, but available to any visitor who wants to come. Next was the opportune magic of a World's Fair, and a willingness to buy into it, at any cost. Finally, Kansas City designed a continuing, well-plotted, long-term program for funding and promoting industrial and financial arrangements between our two countries, with emphasis on the Two Sisters: Seville and Kansas City.

How this Friendship Works

Twenty-five years ago, Miller Nichols, a prominent citizen and realty developer - letter in hand - went to Spain to represent Kansas City for establishing a tie with the City of Seville. The idea of joining with Seville was based on many common features of the two cities: on shared architecture - the Giralda towers and ornate tile designs; on shared philosophies - the friendly, hospitable way of life for which Spain and the Midwest are noted; and on shared vision - the idea that both communities were coming of age, economically and globally.

With the acceptance of such an invitation from this colorful Spanish city, the leaders of both communities had no reason to expect that in 25 years, Seville and Kansas City would be on a world stage, in an exclusive celebration at Expo '92, the largest world's fair ever, classified as a universal exposition.

The concept of participating in the prestigious Seville exposition in 1992 was exciting. All the American states and larger cities were being solicited to take part in a series of pavilions to represent the United States; many considered and yearned to accept this temptation, but in a recessive economy no venue could find a budget, and Kansas City stood alone. In the end, the Chamber of Commerce cooperated with the business people of Greater Kansas City, to raise $1.5 million, just enough to support this ambitious project. The city's participation was a huge success through the course, of the summer: over 350 Kansas Citians took part at the Expo site to perform before tens of thousands of international tourists, entertaining with music, dance, and musical comedy. As a "universal" exposition, over 40 million visitors came, from almost every nation in the world, with special representation from all the countries in Europe. Over a million Europeans walked through the U.S. Pavilion, seeing all the Kansas City exhibits and presentations. Many of these visitors got the idea here, that Kansas City must be a nice place to visit.

On the business side, industrial and financial leaders conducted an international roundtable which included business interests, education, culture, and tourism experts from these two countries and the Sister Cities. In a first-time video teleconference, Seville Mayor Alejandro Rojas-Marcos and Kansas City Mayor Emanuel Cleaver exchanged ideas on the successes of Kansas City's participation at Expo '92 and how to capitalize on the recognition the city gained from its presence in Seville, and the future objectives to be anticipated in coming missions.

What then is the special wisdom of the friendship and leadership of Seville and Kansas City? It is, quite simply, that planning and perseverance are the keys two civic communities can trade together and work together as friends and colleagues, then their larger jurisdictions in Andalusia and Missouri and Greater Kansas City can work together within t he framework of two nations: in industry and trade, especially in the cheerful window on the world of travel and tourism. For the user of these social and economic goods, the wonder of trade in tourism is that this magnificent business is also fun!

COPYRIGHT 1993 U.S. Government Printing Office
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group