(standing, left to right)
Joe Sweeney, Ingram's Magazine
Tom Holden, Kansas City Hotel & Lodging Association

Mark Zimmerman, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Nick Benjamin, Power & Light District

Diane Forgy, Overland Limousine

George Gaustello, Union Station

Don Breckenridge, InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza (Host Sponsor)

Katie Danner, Missouri Division of Tourism

Michelle Sweeney, Ingram's Magazine

Bill Chapin, Kansas City Chiefs

Brett Mitchell, Overland Park Convention Center

Greg Cotton, Sporting Kansas City

David Hayob, Kansas City Royals

(sitting, left to right)

Bill Dietrich, Downtown Council

Bill George, KC Transportation Group

Rick Hughes, Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association (Co-Chair, Co-Sponsor)

Kathy Nelson, Kansas City Sports Commission

Oscar McGaskey, Kansas City Convention Centers (Co-Sponsor)

A City of Surprises

On a spectacular April afternoon, high atop the InterContinental Hotel Kansas City at the Plaza, a score of area leaders in the hospitality industry gathered to assess the region’s assets and future.

This assembly was part of Ingram’s ongoing 13 year-tradition known as the Industry Outlook Assembly Series. Sponsoring this year’s gathering were the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association, whose CEO, Rick Hughes, ably chaired the event and Ingram’s. InterContinental Hotel served as host sponsor.

Although the industry faces any number of challenges, successes in recent years have brightened its outlook and made for a largely positive assessment. “Demand started coming back a year or more ago,” said Don Breckenridge,
general manager of the InterContinental Hotel, “and that demand has escalated.” About to celebrate its 40th anniversary, the hotel has invested millions in renovations that make it seem a good deal newer.

Breckenridge might as well have been speaking about the industry in general, at least in Kansas City. Hughes noted that Kansas City had recently recorded its 24th consecutive month of improved year-over-year demand growth.