Tourism Topics - December 2015

Happy Holidays from the Manhattan Convention & Visitors Bureau!

Celebrate the holiday season in Manhattan

The Little Apple® is ripe with holiday flair as the calendar blazes toward 2016 and the biggest and best New Year’s Eve celebration. Rally the family around the Christmas tree at Blue Earth Plaza, as the Festival of Lights continues through the month. The spectacle of the tree lights is enhanced by choreographed, festive, holiday music that you can find at 88.1 FM. The spirit of the holidays is alive in Downtown Manhattan.

Pick out a date to sit on Santa’s lap at Manhattan Town Center and let him know what’s on your list. The big guy will also have breakfast at Flint Hills Discovery Center, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Dec. 12. The holiday season is truly joyful when you hear the clip-clop of horses and marvel at all the lights on a carriage ride around downtown. The free, weekend-only rides start at 5 p.m. behind AJ’s Pizzeria, and continue for three hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings until Dec. 20 (donations go to Manhattan Emergency Shelter).

After a peaceful carriage ride, get in a fun family, winter workout at the ice rink at Wefald GTM Center in City Park. Shop local for all of your gifts, and make a stop at the Flint Hills Discovery Center for the continuing Masters exhibit, and Strecker-Nelson Gallery for the year’s best artwork. Plus, the Wrap It Up exhibit at Manhattan Arts Center offers affordable gift-giving options.

It wouldn’t be a celebratory holiday without Christmas music, and you’ll get your fill with Aaron Neville’s selection of holiday favorites on Dec. 9 at McCain Auditorium. It’s a full month to celebrate the holidays. Of course, we’ll count down the final moments of 2015 and ring in the New Year with Miss Kansas 2013 Theresa Vail. The Little Apple® New Year’s Eve celebration and Apple drop festivities start at 10 p.m. on Moro Street.

December 2015 Volume 15, Issue 12 A publication of the Manhattan Convention & Visitors Bureau

Meet family and friends in Manhattan throughout the month of December. If you can’t find any way to celebrate the season, you’re just not trying very hard!

New activities and eateries spur MHK growth in 2015 2015 was the year of the expanding waistline battle around Manhattan … with so many new restaurants that sprouted on a regular basis, it was a struggle to avoid the inevitable weight gain.

Travelers delighted in the new eateries along Poyntz Avenue, along with a new hotel offering and several new attractions.

MRC’s website. Another growing attraction, Locked Manhattan is an expansion of online gaming where guests must solve some puzzles and mind-bending clues to find their escape, all before the bewitching hourglass reaches the 60-minute mark.

Manhattan-only establishments to complement Harry’s and the not-so-longago introduced Bourbon & Baker, providing the Flint Hills dining scene with an eclectically-stout mix of dining options, and joined by Pigins just ’round the corner from Manhattan Town Center.

This all certainly portends a glistening 2016 as we await the new Cinemark Cinema at Manhattan Town Center. Let’s take a look back at 2015, as we await even more in store for 2016 after the Little Apple Drop (just 25 days away!).

The 20th rendition of Kicker Country Stampede was a stirring entertainment extravaganza, with Thomas Rhett delivering a knockout performance on opening night, followed by Florida Georgia Line and headliner Blake Shelton. The third decade of Country Stampede will be reduced to a three-day festival with all of the same excitement, as Tim McGraw leads the 2016 lineup with Dierks Bentley, Sam Hunt and Jake Owen.

Manhattan will be McGraw’s fourth stop on his 2016 tour (by present schedule).

The city’s inaugural halfmarathon sponsored by Manhattan Running Company, the Bill Snyder Highway Half, laid fast steps for big future running events. MRC’s Highway Half event included a 5-kilometer run and drew 2,000 for the May event, which is expected to grow in Year 2 and beyond. Details of the 2016 event including registration can be found at

David Mayes

Another first for Manhattan, Flint Hills Discovery Center hosted the city’s inaugural Reel Paddle Film Festival, which for a decade has hosted films that celebrate the sport of paddling (canoe, kayak, etc.). Adrenaline seekers region-wide rejoiced, too, with the opening of Wildwood Outdoor Adventure Park over the summer. Wildwood has seven zip-line runs and added a spice-of-life activity and another spicy attraction for tourists with travel plans to The Little Apple®.

Speaking of spice, the additions to the Manhattan food scene were unique and have garnered regional attention for the city’s expanding and distinctive culinary attractions. Tallgrass Tap House joined the influx of

On the subject of stout, Rhythm & Brews Festival continued to grow and shows tons of promise as a continuing event in its second year. The R&B MHK Festival united the already successful Little Apple Music Festival and the Brew 2 Shoe run, with a beer sampling event that has taken off in its brief existence. The music festival hits just the right chord to cap a full day of activities and celebration in City Park. The Charles Walker Band and Red Molly were headline acts in 2015.

More food? But of course.

The fourth Festival of Breads in June was a robust celebration of wheat, baking and a community celebration of the breadbasket of America. Lisa Keys from Pennsylvania was the overall winner with a smokehouse cranberry cheese bread recipe, and Rod Gray of Pellet Envy fame and master of the barbecue grill gave demos on the Hilton back lawn. The next NFOB (June 17, 2017) will celebrate 60 years for the Kansas Wheat Commission, and this event continues to blossom.

This year laid the groundwork for an outstanding 2016 as Manhattan moves ahead with alluring attractions and events.

Tourism packs a punch for Manhattan, Riley County

Domestic tourism is a $1.5 trillion industry. While Manhattan residents may consider annual trips to Texas, Arizona or Colorado, a big portion of our economy is reliant upon similar Kansas vacations for summer getaways, family visits and Wildcat athletics.

Clearly, K-State sports are a big part of the Manhattan economy, accounting not just for ticket sales but hotel occupancy, restaurant revenue and any “side” activities like trips to an Aggieville merchant, downtown shop or Manhattan Town Center. Just as there’s more to the university than K-State sports, there’s more to Manhattan than college sports. The addition of numerous restaurants, attractions, shops and activities around the city has bolstered county-wide tourism.

In the last five years, Riley County tourism (visitor spending) out-paced the state average and rose by $14 million, with 2 percent growth in just the last year to reach $126 milmore in lion (2014; $2.4 million more than revenues 2013). As a result, taxable sales in the leisure and hospitality industry have increased by 30 percent since 2010. That’s significant. And that makes tourism a significant Riley County income source, generating $20 million in 2014 tax revenues, with $12.2 million accrued to state and local governments. The figures were supplied from data compiled for Kansas Wildlife & Parks Department by Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics Company.

$2.4 million

Lodging, coupled with food-beverage-grocery receipts, represents 40 percent of visitor spending. More than one-fourth of Riley County travel is spent on food and beverage (barsrestaurants-grocery stores), and this represents the largest spending category attributed to tourism.

When cash registers ring, it means local and state tax dollars are flowing into the economy. It also means additional jobs. The economic impact from visitor spending supports at least 1,925 jobs (one of every 15 county employees). Plus, the annual rate of employment growth for Riley County leisure and hospitality has doubled the state-wide average, and similarly outpaces state-wide sales (parallel numbers existed for much of 20002010).

What does this all mean? Well, Riley County ranks seventh in tourist-related income, primarily behind counties with metroarea populations; in order of the ranked counties: Johnson, Sedgwick, Wyandotte, Shawnee, Douglas and Saline counties rank one through six. It should be noted, too, these figures don’t include Pottawatomie County, which encompasses a small portion of the city, but primarily all of the retail stores along McCall Road.

Plotting the same course over the next decade, tourism will supply $1 trillion to the Riley County economy by 2025. And that packs a wallop of significance.

Cultural and local sporting events

Flint Hills Discovery Center • Flint Hills Masters series through Jan. 17. Paintings and sculptures by more than 50 premier artists from around the world and give rise to multiple senses of feeling for the Flint Hills. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until 8 p.m. Thursday).

• Breakfast with Santa. Coffee, doughnuts, juice. Kids decorate gingerbread houses.

Complimentary family photo with Santa. 9 a.m to 11:30 a.m. Dec. 12.

FlintHillsDiscovery.org

Help make Manhattan the pick for ML Greatest Town

An evening bike ride on the Linear Trail. A hike up Bluemont Hill. A stroll through Sunset Zoo. Sit enraptured by the Flint Hills Discovery Center video. Downtown Manhattan shops.

Country Stampede. Konza Prairie. Kansas River.

Little Apple eats?

What triggers your love for Manhattan? We want to know.

Midwest Living seeks to determine the Greatest Town in the Midwest (#MLGreatestTown). Here’s where we need your help. Use the hashtag #MLGreatestTown with your social media posts. Submit a picture we deem the best and win a $250 shopping spree, courtesy of Manhattan Convention & Visitors Bureau. Check out the blog post on our website for details. Make it happen, Manhattan! Get more info at Midwestliving.com/greatesttown.

Resolve to make a Tuttle hike in 2016

What date is tradition for New Year’s resolutions to take effect? Jan. 2? First workday of a new year? You can make a big impact on that long-held discussion in 2016. Resolve to get outside more?

Take in what nature has to offer? Then you’re in luck. The Little Apple First Day hike Jan. 2 is part of a national event at state parks. You’ll get New Year’s Day to burn off a little of the haze from a big celebration at the Little Apple Drop, then head outdoors.

A hike from 10 a.m. to noon will be just the ticket after gorging on five New Year’s football games. Consider your new year’s plans set, with the Little Apple Drop in Aggieville on New Year’s Eve, a hearty Manhattan lunch on New Year’s Day and a first-day Saturday hike to get that exercise resolution headed in the right direction. The Tuttle Creek State Park office at 5800A River Pond is the meeting point for the twohour hike. Call your friends and let’s make this a big event!

K-State home men’s basketball • Coppin State, Dec. 9; North Dakota, Dec. 22; Saint Louis, Dec. 29; West Virginia, Jan. 2 (TBD). K-Statesports.com

K-State home women’s basketball • Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Dec. 7; Florida Atlantic, 4 p.m. Dec. 13; Sam Houston State, Dec. 19; Western Illinois, Dec. 21; Iowa State, Dec. 30.

All home games played at Bramlage Coliseum with 7 p.m. tipoff unless otherwise indicated. K-Statesports.com

Museums • Art for Every Home: Associated American Artists. Traveling exhibition of 136 works by Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry and Grant Wood from more than 25 museums and private collections. Display continues through Jan. 31, 2016. Beach.K-State.edu • Jacqueline Bishop: Songs for the Earth, materials related to Bishop’s creative process, on display until Dec. 20. Beach.K-State.edu • Stan Herd’s "Cairns on the Beach" highlights the natural beauty to the region's geology, honors the history of stone structures in Kansas. Beach.K-State.edu.

• Only the Best holiday exhibit continues through Jan. 9. Strecker-nelsongallery.com McCain Performance Series • Aaron Neville holiday favorites in his distinctive style, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9. K-State.edu/McCain

New Year’s Eve celebrations • Little Apple New Year’s Eve celebration. 10 p.m. Dec. 31, North Manhattan Ave. and Moro Street intersection. Aggieville.org • 'Under the Sea' (for children) at Flint Hills Discovery Center.

Early evening of food, music and science fun (balloon drop, kids' dance music, buried treasure scavenger hunt, costume contest and more). 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Dec. 31.

Flinthillsdiscovery.org • ’80s theme New Year’s party. 8 p.m. Dec. 31.

Wareham Opera House. TheWareham.com • New Year’s Eve Bash 2015, Columbian Theatre. 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31.

Columbiantheatre.com

Theater • A Columbian Christmas Spectacular 2015. Dec. 11-13 and Dec. 18-20, Columbian Theatre. Columbiantheatre.com

December 2015

7

K-State Women's Basketball vs. Rio Grande Valley Bramlage Coliseum 800-221-2287

12-13 Operation Yellow Ribbon Manhattan Town Center 785-539-3500

21 K-State Women's Basketball vs. W. Illinois Bramlage Coliseum 800-221-2287

9

McCain Performance Series: Aaron Neville McCain Auditorium, K-State 7:30 PM 785-532-6428

13 K-State Women's Basketball vs. FAU Bramlage Coliseum 800-221-2287

22 K-State Men's Basketball vs.

North Dakota Bramlage Coliseum 800-221-2287

9

K-State Men's Basketball vs.

Coppin St. Bramlage Coliseum 800-221-2287

18-20 Christmas Spectacular Columbian Theatre, Museum & Art Center, Wamego Fri. & Sat. 7:30 PM; Sun. 2:00 PM 785-456-2029

29 K-State Men's Basketball vs.

St. Louis Bramlage Coliseum 800-221-2287

11-13 Christmas Spectacular Columbian Theatre, Museum & Art Center, Wamego Fri. & Sat. 7:30 PM; Sun. 2:00 PM 785-456-2029

19 K-State Women's Basketball v. Sam Houston St. Bramlage Coliseum 800-221-2287

31 Little Apple New Year's Eve Aggieville 31 New Year's Eve at Colbert Hills!

Colbert Hills Clubhouse 785-776-6475

K-State men’s home basketball schedule TIME 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM TBD 7 PM 3 PM 5 PM 1 PM

(December-January games) DATE Wed, Dec. 9 Tues, Dec. 22 Tues, Dec. 29 Sat, Jan. 2 Tue, Jan. 12 Sat, Jan. 16 Sat, Jan. 23 Sat, Jan. 30

DATE Thurs, Dec. 3 Mon, Dec. 7 Sun, Dec. 13 Sat, Dec. 19 Mon, Dec. 21 Wed, Dec. 30 Wed, Jan. 6 Wed, Jan. 13 Sat, Jan. 16 Sat, Jan. 30

OPPONENT Coppin State North Dakota Saint Louis West Virginia Texas Tech Iowa State Oklahoma State Mississippi

OPPONENT TX-Arlington TX-Rio Grande Florida Atlantic Sam Houston State Western Illinois Iowa State West Virginia Oklahoma State Texas Christian Texas

®

December.............................Anticipated Attendance Numbers Sporting Events 07 K-State Inline Hockey Club Tournament ........................................100 Conferences/Meetings/Reunions 02 Kansas Bureau of Investigation Meeting ............................................50 07 Kansas Farm Bureau Annual Meeting ...........................................1,000 15 Arthur Capper Cooperative Center..................................................35 Emerging Leaders: Building Trusted Relationships 27 Manhattan Optimist Kids Wrestling Club Team Tournament.....150

KFB gathers in MHK

Kansas Farm Bureau holds its annual meeting for the fifth time at Manhattan Conference Center, as almost 400 delegates and 1,000 banquet attendees assemble for the largest gathering of farmers and ranchers in the state. The annual meeting will be held Dec. 6-8 with workshops and discussion of agriculture policy such as laws pertaining to water, crop insurance, endangered species and taxes.

“All of our policy comes from farmers and ranchers,” said Warren Parker, co-director, communications for Kansas Farm Bureau. “This is the most important time of the year for KFB, when members come and approve policies, and give the staff marching orders for 2016.”

This is the 14th consecutive year for the KFB annual meetings in Manhattan. For nine years prior to 2011 when the Manhattan Conference Center opened, KFB held the annual meetings at its offices on Seth Child Road.

Manhattan CVB Steering Committee

Brad Everett, Chair, Hotel Neal Farmer, Business Jennifer Fritchen, Hotel Evan Grier, Dining Bernie Haney, Youth/Sports Todd Holmberg, Entertainment/KSU Meridith McKee, Hotel Terry Olson, Retail Penny Senften, Entertainment

K-State women’s home basketball schedule (December-January games)

TIME 7 PM 7 PM 4 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM 7 PM

Upcoming Conferences, Sports and Special Events in The Little Apple

Dana Ladner completed the online certification Kansas At Your Service, both state and Manhattan programs. Ladner received 100 Little Apple dollars for the achievement.

Kansas At Your Service is comprised of one hospitality learning course and several destination courses. Congrats!

Ben Sigle, Attraction Jeff Wolfe, Meeting Planner/ KSU Ex-Officio Members Eddie Eastes, City of Manhattan Lyle Butler, Chamber President Usha Reddi, City Commissioner

CVB Mission Statement: To increase the local area economy by attracting visitors.

Manhattan Convention & Visitors Bureau 501 Poyntz Avenue Manhattan, KS 66502 (785) 776-8829 • (785) 776-0679 fax

Manhattan Convention & Visitors Bureau Staff

Karen Hibbard, Director karen@manhattan.org

Marcia Rozell, Tourism Sales Manager marcia@manhattan.org

Luke Wiggins, Convention Sales Manager luke@manhattan.org