Arkansas tourism officials release 2008 industry report

The tourism industry in the Fort Smith region survived 2008, but state tourism officials are holding their breath on how the industry might fare in 2009.

Figures released Monday (Mar. 16) by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism show that tourism expenditures in the Fort Smith region (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties) totaled $428.28 million, up 19.7% over 2007 expenditures.

Tourism expenditures statewide in 2008 totaled $5.572 billion, up 9.09% over 2007. The state figures also show that more than 23.81 million business and tourists visits in 2008.

The report, released during the 35th Annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism held at the Fort Smith Convention Center, mirrors the regional results from the 2008 collections of the state’s 2% tourism trust fund tax.

Collections of the tax — on hotels, restaurants, tourism attractions, etc. — for Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in 2008 totaled $627,023, up 12.4% over 2007 collections. Some of that increase came from work crews in the area helping recover from an April hail storm and a June wind storm that hit the area.

Statewide the tax generated $12.005 million for the tourism trust fund, up 3.8% over 2007 collections.

2009 CONCERNS
The 3.8% increase, however, is below the 6% estimate for the state’s fiscal year, which runs from July to June. And state tourism officials remain unsure as to how deep the national recession will be felt in Arkansas.

“What we have is that increase (3.8%) on six months of our (fiscal) year. We have to hope we can make that up with the other six (months),” Richard Davies (pictured at right watching a tourism presentation), director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, told The City Wire.

With the exception of high-end restaurants, Davies said the state continues to enjoy good numbers in the tourism industry. His concern is with the economy in Texas, the biggest tourism market for Arkansas.

During an afternoon presentation detailing the condition of Arkansas’ tourism industry, Joe David Rice (at left) said tourism budgets by many states are being cut. Rice, director of tourism for Arkansas, noted that Nevada has cut its budget by 60%.

But Rice said such cuts aren’t planned in Arkansas, where conservative tourism budgets have been the norm. Also, Rice said state officials think now is the “rare opportunity to increase market share” by continuing to push the Arkansas tourism message to other states.

“This is not the time to withdraw from advertising” Arkansas’ tourism industry to the rest of the country, Rice told the crowd.

2009 STRATEGIES
Arkansas tourism officials also presented the 2009 marketing strategy based on research from Economics Research Associates and Longwoods International.

The strategy appears to have two basic approaches.

One approach is to capitalize on the downturn in the economy by selling Arkansas as a state that “has a lot to see and do” but at an affordable price. According to Michael Erdman with Longwoods, affordability is on the bottom of the list when families are “dreaming” of vacation spots but moves near the top of the list when they begin planning the vacation.

And because research shows that adults travel with children just 23% of the time, Arkansas must also be seen as having “good adult appeal,” according to Longwoods.

The other approach is to market Arkansas’ tourism venues to populations with a “high propensity for travel” but a “low propensity for travel to Arkansas.” These are the people, Longwoods research noted, who likely don’t come to Arkansas because they have a bad perception of the state.

Erdman said the “really good news” is that when people travel to Arkansas, the state usually “over delivers” on the tourism experience and the first-time visitors begin to make the state a more frequent stop.

Areas to target this crowd are:
Illinois: market areas of Chicago, Peoria-Bloomington and Rockford
Tennessee: market areas of Knoxville, Nashville and Chattanooga
Texas: market areas of Austin, Amarillo, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio and Victoria.

The following out-of-state areas are the top five markets for business and tourism travelers to Arkansas:
Dallas-Fort Worth
Springfield, Mo.
Memphis
Chicago
Shreveport

FORT SMITH REGIONAL TOURISM FIGURES

Crawford County
Tourism expenditures
2008: $40.26 million
2007: $35.26 million

Tourism-generated employment
2008: 408
2007: 394

Tourism/business visitors
2008: 185,793
2007: 173,368

Franklin County
Tourism expenditures
2008: $14.1 million
2007: $12.74 million

Tourism-generated employment
2008: 158
2007: 155

Tourism/business visitors
2008: 63,786
2007: 61,487

Logan County
Tourism expenditures
2008: $11.35 million
2007: $10.26 million

Tourism-generated employment
2008: 114
2007: 112

Tourism/business visitors
2008: 46,994
2007: 45,300

Sebastian County
Tourism expenditures
2008: $362.57 million
2007: $299.47 million

Tourism-generated employment
2008: 2,950
2007: 2,757