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Dozens of businesses met at the National World War I Museum and Memorial on Tuesday morning for a workshop on culture and hospitality.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just nine weeks away, businesses are thinking about how to make the perfect first impression. To help, the Visit KC Foundation is hosting a training series leading up to the big event.
“We had so many requests. Can you do cultural training? Can you help us understand how we can prepare the best we can for an event of this size?” said Jenny Wilson, vice president of tourism development with Visit KC. “It’s the biggest event Kansas City is ever gonna host, so what we can take from this event is only gonna help everybody in the future.”
The training series is being facilitated by experts from the Protocol School of Washington. Mark David Jones, with the institution, led the first of many workshops on Tuesday.
Jones says true understanding is the secret sauce to hospitality, and that takes preparation and genuine curiosity about how to treat people well.
“World-class organizations spend a lot of time focused on how can we better understand those that we serve,” Jones said. “It’s not just about surviving FIFA; it’s about thriving in the midst of it. But also afterwards, you are building a reputation. People are gonna walk away talking about this, they are gonna go on the internet.”
He says this means businesses will need to do some research. Ask questions like: What are the human personality types? What cultural norms are people bringing to Kansas City?
“Tipping is education, right? Whether that’s on a menu that simply says 20% is a customary tip in the United States, it’s helping our guests understand what’s customary here,” Wilson said. “The length of service. Internationally, a dinner may take two hours, where here, we’re very used to turning those tables 30, 45 minutes. So understanding … we talk about patience — that’s where some of that education from both sides needs to come into play.”
Language barriers can be another source of concern for business owners. Wilson spoke to this as well.
“I had some people say, ‘How are we gonna learn languages?’" she said. "Well, you’re not. But maybe learn good morning, good afternoon. Use some very simple greetings so that they can address some of those major languages.”
Consuelo Cruz works for Belger Arts and came to the workshop for insight. She knows that creating a successful framework for the World Cup will pay off in the long run, too.
“It could be sales, but I think it’ll be more qualitative than quantitative,” Cruz said.
She will be utilizing social media, signage and translation services to tap into the hearts of international fans.
“We have to think about all the opportunities that are gonna come after this, “ Cruz said.
The Visit KC Foundation will host two more workshops — a virtual session for supervisors and an in-person simulation for business staff.
Registration is open now.
“We’ve got it," Wilson said. "We know how to do this; we’ve done big events. I have no doubt we can do it."
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