Saying the removal of his interim tag will allow him to “Open up the calendar” more for 2026 and beyond, recently named permanent Visit Emporia Director Matt Fowler outlined three key areas of focus during an interview with KVOE News Friday.
Fowler says there will be a plethora of opportunities to tackle these areas in the next year, given the always lengthy list of annual events the community is set to host over the next 12 months. Fowler says April, May and June in particular will be far from slow with the Glass Blown Open, Unbound Gravel and more on the calendar.
While the community has done a good job in explaining the national and global reaches of these events, an area that Fowler says he would like to focus more attention on from a storytelling perspective is the “Why” behind them. To do that, Fowler says community input and perspective will be “Critical.”
Fowler was named the interim director of Visit Emporia in June of 2025 following the departure of previous director Lelan Dains as he moved into a full-time role as Executive Director of Kansas Spanish Speakers. Fowler was one of a trio of interim leaders within the Trusler Business Center over the last year, a list that also includes interim RDA President Lyle Butler and Interim Chamber Director Christian Kiesler.
Fowler says he hopes the removal of his interim tag won’t be the last in the coming weeks. Regardless, Fowler says that over the last few months, the Chamber has become a “completely different place.”
For more information on Visit Emporia and upcoming community activities, go online to Visitemporia.com.
6:00 pm Thursday: Fowler named permanent director of Visit Emporia
After six months, Interim Visit Emporia Director Matt Fowler will now be known simply as Director.
In a news release Thursday, Fowler was named as the new permanent director of the agency. A native Emporian, Fowler called the appointment an honor saying, “This community means the world to me, and I’m excited to keep working alongside our partners to create meaningful experiences for visitors while supporting the people and places that make Emporia home.”
Fowler was named the interim director last summer following the resignation of then Visit Emporia Director Lelan Dains as he departed the agency to take on the role of executive director of Kansas Spanish Speakers.
In his role, Fowler will continue to oversee destination marketing, visitor services, community partnerships, and strategic initiatives aimed at growing tourism within Emporia. Fowler will join KVOE’s Newsmaker 3 segment at 8:40 am Friday to discuss his goals and objectives for the agency moving forward.
