Business travel keeps KC tourism economy steady
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Downtown Kansas City. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios
Kansas City's tourism softened last year alongside a broader national slowdown, even as increasing business travel buoyed regional spending.
The big picture: Tourism is still a major local economic driver, despite fewer international travelers coming to the U.S.
Zoom in: Visit KC's 2025 tourism outlook showed its marketing efforts yielded smaller returns. Meanwhile, companies spent record amounts on fewer regional events.
- The economic impact from business travel increased by 29% ($107 million), but the impact from Visit KC's marketing efforts saw a 34% ($96 million) decline.
- Visit KC says it still sees a $130 return on every $1 spent.
- The total economic impact stayed roughly the same at $4 billion.
What they're saying: Derik Detter, Visit KC's director of market research, tells Axios "discretionary leisure travel has normalized after a post-pandemic surge in 'revenge travel.'"
Zoom out: Many U.S. cities saw significant decreases in tourism last year, especially international travelers.
- Las Vegas saw an 11% decline in total visitors year-over-year, while Philadelphia saw 14% fewer international visitors.
- International visits to the U.S. declined by 5.5%.
Business travel rebounded past pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with most respondents in a Deloitte survey of corporate travel managers saying they expected to spend more.
- Global business travel was up 6.6% in 2025, despite international trade tensions, and was projected to rise even faster this year, according to the Global Business Travel Association.
The intrigue: Visit KC president and CEO Kathy Nelson said during a tourism summit last week that 55% of European travelers find the United States less appealing for leisure travelers because of the country's foreign and domestic policy, Startland News reported.
What we're watching: The World Cup is projected to have a substantial impact on tourism, even though hotel bookings haven't filled up as fast as expected.
The bottom line: "This is an unprecedented and unmatched moment to introduce more of the world to the Heart of America," Nelson said.
Go deeper: What's really going on with World Cup hotel bookings