Visit Salina Requests $200,000 Increase in City Tourism Funding for 2027
Visit Salina is requesting $950,000 from the City of Salina for 2027, an increase of $200,000 from the $750,000 approved for the organization in 2026.
The proposed increase represents approximately 26.7% and is the largest dollar increase listed among the outside-agency funding requests currently under consideration as part of the city’s 2027 budget process. The funding worksheet lists the source as the city’s Transient Guest Tax.
The request has not received final approval. The worksheet’s City Commission approval column remains blank, indicating commissioners have not yet made a final funding decision.
Three Tourism and Marketing Funding Categories
Visit Salina operates as part of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce. City budget materials list three separate tourism and marketing funding categories connected with the Chamber:
Visit Salina
Community Marketing
Cultural Marketing
Visit Salina’s request would increase from $750,000 to $950,000. Community Marketing would remain unchanged at $240,000, while Cultural Marketing would decrease from $150,000 to $50,000.
Combined funding across the three categories would increase from $1.14 million in 2026 to $1.24 million in 2027. That represents a net increase of $100,000, or approximately 8.8%.
The $200,000 increase proposed for Visit Salina is partially offset in the overall tourism and marketing total by the proposed $100,000 reduction in Cultural Marketing. The funding worksheet does not explain whether the changes represent a formal transfer between the programs or separate budget decisions.
The document also does not include a detailed explanation of how Visit Salina would use the additional $200,000. It does not identify new programs, staffing changes, advertising plans, events, hotel-room projections or performance goals associated with the increase.
Funding Comes From Transient Guest Tax
The proposed money would come from the Tourism and Convention Fund, which is supported by the city’s Transient Guest Tax.
The city’s adopted 2026 budget estimated $2.4 million in Transient Guest Tax revenue. Of that amount, $1.14 million was budgeted for agency contracts, matching the combined 2026 allocations for Visit Salina, Community Marketing and Cultural Marketing.
City budget documents state that the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce has received city support for convention and tourism promotion since 1977 under an agreement that renews annually. The city increased its Transient Guest Tax rate from 6.7% to 7.75% in October 2021, with the additional revenue also supporting improvements to local sports facilities.
Because the Visit Salina request is funded through the Transient Guest Tax, it is separate from outside-agency requests supported directly by the General Fund, including Salina Grace, OCCK, Salina Liberty and the Salina Municipal Band.
Questions Remaining Before Approval
The funding documents establish the amount being requested but leave several questions unanswered, including:
What additional services or marketing would be provided with the $200,000 increase?
How much of the funding would be used for staffing, advertising, event recruitment or administrative costs?
What tourism results would Visit Salina be expected to produce?
How many hotel stays, conventions, tournaments or visitor events were attributed to the program during the previous year?
Why is Cultural Marketing being reduced by $100,000 while Visit Salina’s allocation is increasing?
Those questions could be addressed as commissioners review the proposal or through additional documentation from Visit Salina and the Chamber.
The budget materials are dated for the City Commission’s Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, study session. City study sessions typically begin at 2:30 p.m. in Room 107 of the City-County Building, 300 W. Ash St., before the regular 4 p.m. commission meeting.
Final funding levels can be changed by commissioners before the city’s 2027 budget is formally adopted.