This website serves Farmers and Ranchers in the Kansas AgriTourism Industry.
For family outings, go to http://www.travelks.com

Welcome to Kansas AgriTourism!

This website has been developed specifically for Kansas farmers and ranchers involved in AgriTourism, rural properties where the traveler has an opportunity to experience farm and country life far from the hustle of the city.
The site is a project of the Kansas Agritourism Advisory Council, working in cooperation with:
the Kansas Agriculture Marketing Division and the Travel and Tourism Division of the Department of Commerce
and with financial assistance from Frontier Farm Credit.
We invite you to explore this website to find a variety of articles and resources that will help you succeed in agritourism.
If you have any questions, please contact the Department of Commerce, Travel and Tourism Division, and ask for the Agritourism Liaison.
The Kansas AgriTourism
Advisory Council
 
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Nature Tourism Is A Natural For Western Kansas

It's not surprising that Kansans in the western part of the state feel close to nature. They ranch farm, and do business in some of the most beautiful, wide-open spaces in the United States. The Western Kansas Rural Economic Development Association (wKREDA) recently completed the first steps in what will become a major initiative to enhance tourism in Western Kansas by making use of the regions natural assets.

With the help of Fermata, a nationally known consulting firm specializing in nature-based tourism, wKREDA assessed the potential for tourism throughout western Kansas. A Fermata field ecologist spent a total of 14 days in the area and, in his words, "I was continually surprised at the array of micro-habitat types which unfolded before me during these visits. Initially, coming from a mostly-forested landscape, I admit to feeling uneasy about the seemingly infinite horizon which always seemed to surround me wherever I traveled. In fact, there are several west Kansas routes which possess vistas which would easily fall into the “breath-taking” category for any traveler."

Fermata provided wKREDA with detailed tour and birding route suggestions, a complete assessment of natural attractions and points of interest, a map of suggested nature trails and a complete inventory of the area's natural assets. All of these resulted in the identification of thematic clusters that wKREDA and its partners will use as a basis for the plan needed to move forward with a vital nature based tourism plan.

The clusters identified are: the Gypsum Hills Cluster, the Cimarron Cluster the Chalk Belt Cluster and the East meets West Cluster.

This project was a cooperative effort of wKREDA , the Kansas Division of Tourism, Kansas Wildlife & Parks, Southwest Travel Council, and Northwest Travel Council as partners. Cris Collier, executive director of the Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau, was the project coordinator.

"Now that we know exactly what amazing assets we have to work with, wKREDA and its partners will be working to make nature-based tourism an economic reality for western Kansas," Collier commented.

For more information about this project, the Clusters, nature-based tourism in western Kansas, or to become a part of the project, contact Scott Nichols at the Ulysses Chamber of Commerce.