From Tampa, Kansas to Tampa Bay, Florida. That’s quite a journey and quite a contrast.
Today, in the conclusion of our series about Tampa, we’ll learn about the remarkable connection that was made between these two communities – one small and rural, the other large and urban.
During the last two weeks, we’ve learned about Dave Mueller, a Marion County farmer who has purchased and renovated several buildings in Tampa, Kansas. He shared the story of this amazing urban-rural connection.
This all began with the creative staff at the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Tampa Bay, Florida, which is located on the west coast of the state along the Gulf of Mexico.
The Tampa Bay tourism staff was just wrapping up a conference in Orlando, a couple of hours away. As many of us do these days, they asked their phones how long it would take to drive home to Tampa. When the answer came back, “23 hours,” they were amazed.
Was something wrong with their GPS? No, the phone had correctly calculated the drive time from their location to Tampa…Kansas.
“There’s a Tampa in Kansas?” they asked incredulously. That piqued their curiosity, caused them to learn about the Kansas version of Tampa, and sparked an audacious idea to gain publicity.
What if they could bring the entire population of Tampa, Kansas to its namesake city in Florida for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation?
This idea was novel enough – and crazy enough – that a number of community partner businesses in Florida were willing to give it a try. The Tampa Bay CVB got support in this effort from Southwest Airlines, the Tampa Bay International Airport, and a number of other local tourism businesses and sponsors.
“In mid-summer 2022, we got a call from the Visit Tampa Bay organization in Florida,” Mueller said. “They said, ‘We want to fly the entire town of Tampa, Kansas to Tampa Bay.’”
That’s not the type of call one receives every day. Visit Tampa was offering an all-expense paid trip. Such an idea would only be practical to implement for a rural community such as Tampa, Kansas, population 105 people. Now, that’s rural.
After exploring the details and verifying that this was real, both communities agreed. “Then later they called and said, ‘We want to do this in two months,’” Mueller said.
The community mobilized to take advantage of this unique opportunity. The Tampa city council took applications of people who wanted to make the trip. More than 100 applied. A few couldn’t make the trip at the last minute. On December 5, 2023, 98 citizens of Tampa, Kansas embarked on the journey.
“It was amazing,” Mueller said. “We had 98 people including 30 kids, many of whom had not been on a plane before.”
Big passenger buses picked up the people in Tampa, Kansas and drove them to the Kansas City airport where they boarded a Southwest Airlines flight to Tampa Bay.
“They rolled out the red carpet for us,” Mueller said. “We got the VIP treatment. There was a welcoming reception. We got free passes to Busch Gardens and other attractions.”
All meals, lodging, and travel were paid. After four days of fun in the sun, they flew back to Kansas City and then rode the buses home. “Everybody had a blast,” Mueller said.
Did this trip accomplish the CVB staff’s goal of generating visibility? Yes.
“We did 97 media interviews,” Mueller said. There were lots of stories online, and the story was included in the CNN Internet news, for example.
“They estimated that, if they had to purchase all the publicity that this story generated, it would have cost them $1.7 million,” Mueller said.
“We have been able to develop a human connection between two communities and raise the profile of both,” said Santiago Corrada, president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay in Florida.
From Tampa, Kansas to Tampa Bay, Florida. What a journey and what a contrast. We commend the people of both Tampas for making a difference by building an urban-rural connection. They helped connect the backroads with the beachfront.
