photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

State and local tourism officials celebrate the unveiling of Explore Lawrence's new mobile visitor center on May 5, 2026.

Explore Lawrence leaders Tuesday unveiled a new effort to bring more visitors to the city and Douglas County: a mobile visitor center that brings the city to potential visitors.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Kim Anspach, the executive director for Explore Lawrence, said Tuesday as the visitors bureau debuted the mobile visitor center — a van wrapped in colorful designs representing landmarks in Lawrence that features a message that urges vehicles that come up behind it to urges to “Follow me to Lawrence.”

The new mobile visitor center was made possible thanks to a $40,000 grant from the Kansas Tourism Office in December 2024, as the Journal-World reported. Anspach said the unveiling of the center is a “special moment” for Explore Lawrence, and it demonstrates how the team was challenged to think differently about how to promote tourism.

Anspach said Explore Lawrence closed its brick and mortar visitors center, previously located on Massachusetts Street, in 2025 because the model for visitors centers was changing. While it was helpful for tourists who were visiting the city to get a brochure or learn more about the area, it was not a tool that “actively brought visitors to Lawrence.”

Ruth DeWitt, the community relations director at Explore Lawrence, told the Journal-World the visitors center will serve as more of a “sales tool” for potential visitors and have different experiences that highlight what the city has to offer. She said the mobile visitor center plans to attend trade shows and other events starting in the summer, including potentially going to Kansas City on some days during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The city has already been looking to find ways to attract a sizable portion of the estimated 600,000 fans who will visit the region this summer. Now, the mobile center can go where the potential visitors already are.

“With a brick and mortar visitors center, you can’t really do that,” DeWitt said.

Although the mobile center will be outside the city limits a fair amount, Anspach also said the mobile center will still serve the local community. Explore Lawrence can now bring its center to other local events — like KU football games, parades or festivals — from downtown to the rest of Douglas County.

Bridgette Jobe, the Director of Kansas Tourism, was on hand to celebrate the unveiling. The state had unveiled its own mobile tourism center in 2024, and she said this would be the first local visitors bureau to have its own mobile center. She felt this approach was innovative and would be a great investment that will bring more visitors to the city.

“This shows the inventiveness of Explore Lawrence,” Jobe said.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

One side of Explore Lawrence’s new mobile visitor center depicts outdoor activities on offer in the region, like kayaking the Kansas River.

photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

One side of Explore Lawrence’s new mobile visitors center features iconic Lawrence landmarks like the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and Granada Theatre.