KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri dubs itself "The Heart of America." It just opened its brand new, billion-dollar airport terminal. Leaders there say it's helping set the stage to make KC a global travel destination.
About a four-hour car ride west of St. Louis and you're in Missouri's largest city, referred to as “The City of Fountains.”
"No one really knew about Kansas City, but when you host something like the NFL draft, it puts you on the map,” said Kathy Nelson who heads Visit KC. That’s a group that works to attract tourists and keep them coming back.
"Years ago, we had been bidding on a few events and we were told 'You’re great. You have the venue. You have the middle of the country location. There's energy here. You can feel the heartbeat of KC here but the airport is horrible,'" she said.
So the city got to work.
"What are you guys looking for today? Beers, Cocktails?" a bartender greets guests sitting at a bar inside one of the nearly 50 restaurants and retail stores that just opened at Kanas City International’s new airport terminal.
At this bar, waiting for a flight has now become a hotspot for barbecue, beer and banter.
"I wasn't expecting the Kansas City airport to be this nice,” one customer told another.
The terminal just opened in February.
"We have a real airport,” passenger Dan Schlozman said.
Airport spokesman Joe McBride tells 5 On Your Side the goal was to have the $1.5 billion terminal up and running when players, prospects and fans flocked to the city for the NFL draft in April.
Voters approved the cost, but they won't foot the bill. Funding comes from on-site sales from airlines, retail and parking.
"When we first opened, there were times people would arrive here and they'd get combative and say 'I'm not in Kansas City. My airline brought me to the wrong place' and starting to get agitated and we'd have to say 'No sir. You are in Kansas City. It's a new terminal. We just built it,'” he explained. “It creates that first element of what Kansas City is when people come here."
It's also perhaps a matter of bragging rights, something for Kansas City to not only be proud of but to share with the world.
"It's just beautiful … if we won the Super Bowl, we definitely have to represent,” passenger Fulece Hughes added.
Now, city leaders are building on the momentum that sports have helped shape. Kansas City is also on tap to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
"We have projects on our radar right now for 2033. That's 10 years away,” Nelson added. "Think about the World Cup. It took us seven years to get to where we were in 2022 to be selected as a host city. At that time, we were four years out from hosting the event. Then after you host the World Cup, the legacy, the impact it will have for years, a generation. So it's not like it comes in and in a month, it's gone. These events and things that we're attracting to our city are generational impacts."
It's about intention, focus and collaboration helping shape the future of Kansas City. Who would imagine a new airport terminal could mean so much?
"It really kind of says Kansas City a lot better than the facility we had in the past … somebody that might be coming here for business, eventually they might say 'Hey this is a pretty cool town. Everything's up to date in Kansas City. I might move here. I might relocate my business here or establish it,'” McBride said.
"All of these things we bring in help us learn about what else can we do,” Nelson added.
Nelson said she meets with the heads of the city's Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Council, the Area Development Council, and the Economic Development Council once a week, collaborating on individual projects. It’s a unified approach to make their city better.