Organizers of trade show troubled by Kansas City’s rising COVID-19 cases

Organizers of a trade show planned for November sent an email to the mayor, governor and tourism office, saying their guests have reservations about making reservations in Kansas City.

“As our planned event is less than 100 days away, our members are contacting us with increasing frequency about rising COVID cases and weak vaccination levels in Kansas City, and how the combination of the two is putting their attendance at this essential economic gathering at risk,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said.

Lucas shared the message Sunday night in which the group said statistics related to the spread of COVID-19 in the area were impossible to ignore.

“I think it made everything a lot more real. It made more of the concerns real, which was that we have, look we’ve got a problem,” Lucas said.

A representative of the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Kansas City said that occupancy is increasing as some events return but it’s not yet back to pre-pandemic levels.

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