Wichita Boathouse
Wednesday August 14, 2002
1:30 pm
Good afternoon and thank you all for being here. Today is a great day. After several months of working together, we are ready to announce the specifics of our aviation festival. This event will give our community the opportunity to embrace our city’s aviation heritage and celebrate it. I am sure most of you are already familiar with the dream we have had in developing an aviation festival for Wichita. It has been a long-time passion of mine. And when Tourism Consultant Alf Nucifora delivered the Strategic Master Plan for Tourism, he challenged us to take these dreams and make them soar. Today we are doing just that. We are, after all, the Aviation Capital of the World!
When you think of Wichita, you think of aviation. Here, we have amazing aviation manufacturers doing business on a worldwide scale. Their hard work had helped make this region a leader in the aviation and aerospace industry.
How important is Wichita in the aviation industry? Well, Boeing Company produces two-thirds of the world’s commercial airliners. Combined, Cessna, Raytheon and Bombardier Aerospace’s Learjet division supply 60% of the world’s general aviation and military aircraft. Wichita’s military operations make us home to McConnell Air Force Base, the 22nd Air Refueling Wing of the Air Mobility Command, 931st Air Refueling Group of the Air Force Reserve and the 184th Bomb Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard. Plus, Wichita has 25% of our population employed in the aviation cluster. All of this combined makes it understandable on how Wichita got its name as “Aviation Capital Of The World!”
All of these great organizations – Boeing, Cessna, Raytheon, Bombardier and Team McConnell – have been a key part of this process to develop an outstanding event. McConnell has graced us again with a weekend air show that will feature some outstanding performers. The four aviation companies have worked together to organize a wonderful benefit black tie event with proceeds going to the Kansas Technical Training Initiative. I would like to thank them for all what they have done now and in the future to make Wichita’s aviation festival spectacular!
I know you are as excited as I am to hear more. I would like to introduce those people who have made this happen to tell you more. First, we are very honored to have Vice Commander Colonel David Kramer with us today to tell us about our first weekend’s activities at McConnell Air Force Base on September 14 and 15. This will be part of the first activities now to be known as “Autumn in the Air.”
Now I am pleased to introduce representatives from three of our key organizations that have been instrumental in developing this festival. I have always said that great things happen by working together and building partnerships. This is exactly what has happened in the development of the Autumn in the Air Festival. Three key organizations have been pulling together to bring this event to the community. Those organizations are the City of Wichita, Wichita Festivals, Inc. and the Greater Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau. First, the City representative, John D’Angelo, Director of CityArts.
This festival gives our citizens, our community and our neighbors the opportunity to celebrate Wichita’s aviation heritage. As you have heard, our plan is to continue to build on this festival so that it becomes one of the great events in the Midwest, if not the nation. Soon it will attract tourists from all over the globe. This gives us the chance to open our doors to the world and show off this fine city. It is just another way we are excited to roll out the red carpet for the tourism industry.
Some people ask… why focus on Tourism? Well, tourism is one of the world’s largest industries and is predicted to generate $9 trillion in economic activity nationally by 2010. It is the world’s largest service industry and America’s largest employer. There are cities out there that are forward thinking and taking advantage of the tourism industry to bring more money to their economy. There is no reason why Wichita should not be one of them and serve as a major tourist destination of the Midwest.
Wichita is an exceptional city working to be a great city. Wichita is celebrating a vision, building community projects and accomplishing goals many other cities only dream about. Great cities become tourist destinations but there is much more to it. By being a great place to visit, you are also a great place to live. We will continue to work together with this goal in mind.
And we need everyone’s help. This truly has become a community effort. It is a partnership based on collaboration, hard work and dedication. There is still more to do. We are looking for sponsors and volunteers. If you want to be part of Wichita’s FIRST aviation festival, Autumn in the Air, I encourage you to call the Wichita Festivals office. You won’t regret it. If you do, some day you will be able to say that you were part of Wichita history as a volunteer or sponsor of the first aviation festival! Thank you all for coming.