As big as you think! At least that's what state officials hope out-of-towners will find by vacationing in the Sunflower State.

Wichita is one of eight Kansas towns featured in the state's new tourism campaign. While the ads are geared towards out of towners, people who live here say with skyrocketing gas prices, they may just vacation here this summer to find out how big Kansas really is.

"There's a lot of stuff to do and it's not expensive stuff," says Esther St. John of Wichita.

That's the attitude state officials hope our friends in neighboring states will adopt about Kansas as well as they launch a new push to bring in more tourists. Tourism brings roughly $5.4 billion to Kansas every year.

"We've got family coming here because there's more to do here than where they live and they live in Tennessee," said St. John.

For the second year in a row, commercials promoting state hot spots will run for nine weeks in surrounding states. Eight Kansas cities, including Wichita, have contributed $20,000 to the effort.

"It is difficult to compete but we're trying to be very strategic with the locations where we're placing our advertising," explains Becky Blake, Director of Travel and Tourism for the Kansas Department of Commerce.

But with pressure at the pump, even Kansans say this might be the perfect summer to explore their own state a little better.