HUTCHINSON, Kan. (KSNW) — The annual Kansas State Fair is underway. The 10-day event brings in people from all over Kansas and even other states. If you want a room, though, it’s something that has to be planned way in advance.
“If you’re just passing through or doing regular business, you’re not really gonna find a place to stay,” said
Ryan Hockenberry, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Hutchinson.
Officials are expecting 325,000 people to come over the 10 days.
“All the major hotels in town are definitely sold out,” Hockenberry said. “We actually started taking reservations for groups right after the state fair ends.”
“This gives us a boost for the next three months when it’s slow season. It does help us overall,” said Dhaval Barot, General Manager of Days Inn in Hutchinson.
A couple of years ago, a large hotel in Hutchinson unexpectedly closed. Which has made it even harder to come by hotel rooms causing many people to stay in other cities.
“People still don’t like to drive it, but they understand. We hope they continue to understand a little while longer, but our loss is McPherson and Newton’s gain temporarily. So we’re just really trying to press and get this done so we can again quit losing those dollars that are leaving the community,” said LeAnn Cox, Vice President of Visit Hutch.
Visit Hutch has been working to bring more hotels to the city.
“We currently are working with two different developers. So we’re getting really close to being able to make some announcements,” Cox said.
In the meantime, people are already planning for next year’s trip to the fair.
“We know that we are gonna be here and the year after that, so we book hotel rooms as soon as we can and know that it’s gonna be kind of a fight to get hotel rooms,” said Holly Martin, visiting from Bucklin.
Visit Hutch is hoping to have an announcement regarding bringing more hotels to the city within the next month or two.
For more information about the Kansas State Fair, click here.
