2009 painful for area hospitality sector

Barring a December report full of miracles, the November financial reports indicate 2009 will prove unremarkable — if not slightly painful — for the Fort Smith/Van Buren hospitality sector.

November collections by the Van Buren Advertising & Promotion Commission totaled$29,507, 4.9% from November 2008. A&P Director Maryl Koeth said the November tally was 0.4% below November 2007 and 11.32% below the budget estimate.

Year-to-date, the Van Buren hospitality tax collections are $352,094, 6% below the same period in 2008. Koeth said YTD restaurant collections are 4.54% below the 2008 period, but 1.47% above the 2007 period.

Hospitality tax collections for Van Buren in 2008 totaled $410,914, up 7.4% over 2007 and up more than 14.5% over 2006. Van Buren collects a 1% tax on lodging and restaurants.

The picture isn’t any better in Fort Smith.

November hospitality tax collections for Arkansas’ second-largest city totaled $52,103, down 9.1% compared to November 2008, and down 6% compared to November 2007.

For the first 11 months of 2009, Fort Smith hospitality tax collections total $625,889, down 15.7% from the same period in 2008, and down 5.2% compared to the same period in 2007.

“As anticipated, we continue to see declines in the lodging tax collections but the decline is narrowing somewhat,” noted Claude Legris, executive director of the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau. The decline after the first 10 months of 2009 was 16.2%.

Fort Smith hospitality taxes are collected from a 3% tax on hotel room rates. 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.