Fort Smith hotel tax collections see quarterly gain

Fort Smith hospitality tax collections for the first quarter of 2009 totaled $171,154, up 2.3% over the first quarter of 2008.

The first quarter ended with a bang, with March hospitality tax collections ($66,537) up 12.1% over March 2008.

Claude Legris, executive director of the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau, said “a lot of group business” in March help boost the numbers. Some of those groups included the Express Soccer tournament (1,295 room nights), The Arkansas Governors Conference on Tourism (940 room nights), A Rotary International conference (700 room nights) and a regional organized crime information conference (670 room nights).

“It shows that a whole lot of little events make a great big difference,” Legris said.

However, Legris acknowledged the monthly comparisons could soon be tough up against last year when thousands of insurance agents, construction workers and others associated with the cleanup from the April 2008 hail storm kept hotel rooms booked for several months.

Fort Smith hospitality tax collections in 2008 totaled $803,591, 11% more than the $723,548 collected in 2007, and more than 19% above 2006 collections. The taxes are collected from a 3% tax on hotel room rates.

Van Buren hospitality tax collections for the first quarter of 2009 were $94,399, down a slight 1.9% compared to the same period of 2008. Collections in March were $31,816, down 2.3% from March 2008.