Cabela's - #1 tourist attraction in KS

[KCN]

Cabela's Is Kansas' New Top Tourist Attraction
Outdoor Gear Store Comes On Top Of Three-Year Record Holder

POSTED: 11:56 a.m. CDT April 12, 2003
UPDATED: 12:26 p.m. CDT April 12, 2003

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Cabela's, which was open for just the last five months of 2002, was the No. 1 tourist attraction in Kansas last year, surpassing Harrah's Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta, which held the top spot for the previous three years, according to Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing.

Cabela's reported 2.4 million visitors, compared to the 1.4 million that Harrah's reported to the KDCOH.

Cathy Byers, communications manager for Harrah's Prairie Band Casino, said she wasn't surprised by the numbers. Cabela's had predicted at its August 2002 opening that the Kansas City location would attract 4 million people each year.


"They have a much bigger population base to draw from," Byers said, noting Cabela's location off Interstates 70 and 435, near the Kansas City metropolitan area.

"Cabela's is attracting all age groups, whereas we are only attracting those age 21 and older."

Kim Qualls, tourism marketing manager for the KDOCH's travel and tourism division, said that to be classified as an attraction, destinations must have something a visitor or traveler can experience, see or do.

In addition to its sales of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, Cabela's includes a 12,000-square foot mule deer museum, 55,000-gallon aquarium, a number of taxidermy displays and a food court.

Qualls said locations measure and report their own attendance figures using admission fees, guest books, sales receipts, observation or a combination of those methods.

Ron Soucie, Cabela's general manager, said the store uses sales transactions and an electronic system that counts people as they enter the doors. Byers said safety officers at Harrah's doors count everyone who enters.

The Kansas Speedway ranked No. 3 on the list, and the Sedgwick County Zoo came in fourth. The Woodlands Racetrack was No. 5. 5.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.