Van Buren tourism officials tout Internet traffic

story by Marla Cantrell
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Three potential tourists from the Czech Republic logged on to Van Buren’s Web site last month to see what the city has to offer. They were joined by others from Canada, India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Ireland.

The breakdown of the 3,310 web visits, including 3,219 from the U.S., was the focus of the May 12 Van Buren Advertising and Promotions Commission meeting.  Maryl Koeth, director of the A&P, said 80% of the visits were first-timers, proving that the commission must be diligent in getting the word out and keeping it fresh.

“We have to continue to reach out to new people,” Commissioner Rusty Myers said.

And while the commission agreed there will always be a place for traditional print ads, the bigger push is online.

“Newspaper advertising is decreasing because so many people are going to the Internet for their news,” Koeth said.

Tax receipts are leveling off, something Koeth has been hoping for months now.  March tax receipts for March were $31,605, down less than 1% from March of 2009, when revenues totaled $31,817.

“We’re not dropping anymore,” Koeth said. “We’re slowly coming up to where we were last year. … We did not get hit nearly as hard as other parts of the country and we should rebound a little bit faster.”

Zaxby’s, which was three months behind on its contributions to the A&P last month, is now only one month in arrears. Koeth said while Zaxby’s is paying up, she’s doubtful she’ll collect the $425 owed by five restaurants that have now gone out of business.

Chairman Debbie Foliart said the Old Timers Day Festival held this past weekend (May 7-9) brought in approximately as much traffic this year as last. Koeth estimated that number to be between 20,000 and 25,000. The actual effects of one of the biggest weekends in downtown Van Buren won’t be known until the May hospitality receipts are tallied for next month’s meeting.

Koeth reminded the commission that the downtown Pioneer Days Parade will be held at 1 p.m. on May 29.