visits, parent weekends, and retreat programs. “By the numbers, anyone who’s not from here who comes here counts as a tourist,” Westhoff explains. “Benedictine has sibling weekends, parent weekends, homecoming, and over the summer they host lots of retreats and visit weekends.” The annual Amelia Earhart Festival in July is the community’s signature event, featuring what Westhoff describes as “the fourth-ranked private fireworks display in the country.” The city partners with the Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce through tourism tax revenue to expand programming beyond traditional attractions. “We partner with the Chamber of Commerce to help us with our tourism program,”Westhoff states.“They’ve been targeting smaller events, like a Scrabble tournament that brings in people, and you don’t need as large a facility or a big baseball venue to run those.” Looking ahead, Mayor Young sees tourism as integral to broader economic growth: “We look forward to more population growth, which will obviously drive housing development. We also look forward to more economic growth as well, and we know that the 31 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 09 ATCHISON, KS
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