Tourism gains seen at all levels

It’s not often that national, state and local statistics related to a certain sector suggest similar trends, but that’s exactly what is happening with tourism figures.

Locally, hospitality tax collections in Fort Smith and Van Buren appear to be gaining momentum compared to the weak 2009 collections.

For the year, Van Buren collections total $362,200, down just 0.98% compared to the 2009 period. Van Buren collects a 1% tax on lodging and a 1% tax on restaurants. For all of 2009, the city collected $381,372 in hospitality taxes, down 7.1% compared to 2008. Hospitality tax collections for Van Buren in 2008 totaled $410,914, up 7.4% over 2007 and up more than 14.5% over 2006.

In Fort Smith, hospitality tax collections during the first 10 months of 2010 total $589,679, up 2.7% over the $573,785 collected in the 2009 period. For 2009, Fort Smith hospitality tax collections totaled $671,912, down more than 16% from 2008. 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. Fort Smith hospitality taxes are collected from a 3% tax on hotel room rates.

Collections of Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax totaled $3.388 million for the third quarter of 2010, up 2.94% compared to the 2009 period. For the first nine months of 2010, the tax has collected $9.038 million, down just .07% compared to the 2009 period. The 2009 collection total of $11.378 million was 5.2% lower than 2008 and 1.66% lower than 2007.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Dec. 20 that “real spending” on travel and tourism during the third quarter increased 8%. The increase was 3.4% during the second quarter of 2010. A decrease in airline fares spurred demand, and hotel use increased 9.5% in the third quarter, according to the BEA.

“While tourism spending outpaced overall growth in the economy, it still remains below its peak set in (third quarter of 2007),” noted the BEA.

Also, “direct tourism-related employment” was up 2% in the third quarter of 2010, following a 2.1% increase in the second quarter.

The BEA report included the following details on the national tourism industry.
• Real spending on passenger air transportation increased 29.8% in the 2010 third quarter after increasing 4.8% in the second quarter.

• Prices for passenger air  transportation turned down, falling 11.7% in the third quarter after increasing 16.5% in the second quarter.

• Air carriers have increased capacity by bringing idle planes back into service contributing to the price decline. Prices for traveler accommodations decelerated, increasing 4% in the third quarter after increasing 19% in the second quarter.

• In the third quarter, total current-dollar tourism-related spending was $1.3 trillion and consisted of $790.5 billion (59%) of direct tourism spending – goods and services sold directly to visitors — and $549.2 billion (41%) of indirect tourism-related spending – goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.

• In the third quarter, total tourism-related employment was 7.8 million and consisted of 5.5 million (71%) direct tourism jobs – jobs where workers produce goods and services sold directly to visitors — and 2.2 million (29%) indirect tourism-related jobs – jobs where workers produce goods and services used to produce what visitors buy.