Visit Emporia Director LeLan Dains is proud of his work leading the city’s marketing and tourism efforts the last four years.
Dains says his time has been “an absolute blast.”
Transient guest tax increased all four years since Dains took over as director, while hotel bed occupancy increased three of the four years.
Dains is also proud of efforts like the “Visit Emporia pledge,” geared towards keeping the area beautiful after events large and small, as well as the Emporia Community Arts Alliance.
All told, Dains says Emporia is in a good position when it comes to tourism and marketing.
Dains, who took over the then-Convention and Visitors Bureau from the late Susan Rathke in 2021, says there have been several “great applicants” for the director position.
In the meantime, Dains is getting ready to officially lead a local organization he founded in Emporia Spanish Speakers. Dains started the group in 2017 as a way to improve Spanish proficiency for himself and other English speakers. The group now offers community engagement activities, bilingual resources, workshops and other activities for local Spanish speakers.
