The City of Wichita’s Downtown Ambassador Program was officially launched Tuesday, November 26 with a ceremony at the Wichita Hyatt Hotel.
The goal of the Ambassador Program is to make Old Town and Downtown Wichita better, safer and friendlier places. The Ambassadors have completed over 100 hours of specialized training in customer service, tourism and hospitality, emergency response, first aid, parking and code enforcement. Wichita joins the ranks of more than 100 other cities with similar customer service initiatives.
“The Wichita Ambassadors is a team of six full and part time employees who will serve as the eyes and ears of downtown by providing hospitality and public safety services, reporting vandalism and graffiti, deterring criminal activity and extending a helping hand when needed to Wichita businesses, citizens and visitors,” said Wichita Mayor Bob Knight.
The Ambassadors will also work with businesses to manage parking in the Downtown and Old Town districts. The parking enforcement efforts will include much more than issuing tickets. It will include education on appropriate employee parking. Friendly courtesy tickets will be given to out-of-state guests visiting Wichita and to first-time local parking violators.
The Ambassadors will cover the area bounded by Kellogg, Washington, Central and McLean streets. The work schedules for the Ambassadors are designed to be especially flexible to allow them to be utilized at major events and conventions at Century II and other locations in the Downtown and Old Town districts.
The vast majority of work time for the Ambassadors will be spent on-foot, but will also drive highly visible, environmentally friendly vehicles. The Ambassadors will wear distinctive, easily recognizable clothing consisting of navy slacks and white polo/twill shirts with the program logo easily identifiable.