Arkansas tourism chief says state to target millennials for continued growth, record 28 million visitors came to state in 2015

After helping to welcome a record number of visitors to Arkansas tourist destinations in 2015, State Parks and Tourism Chief Kane Webb said Wednesday (Sept. 7) the state is shifting part of its outreach to target the nation’s fast-growing millennial generation in order to maintain the current robust growth.

To that end, Webb said the state Department of Parks and Tourism will unveil its new advertising and digital campaign, headed by CJRW and Aristotle, at the Arkansas Hospitality Association’s annual vendor showcase and convention next week in Little Rock.

“From a tourism standpoint, Arkansas is definitely on a roll,” Webb said. “I think we all know that if we can get folks to this great state and everything that we have to offer, they will come back again and again.”

Webb, who was named by Gov. Asa Hutchinson nearly a year ago to replace longtime chief Richard Davies as the executive director of the Parks and Tourism department, made his remarks at the State Capitol rotunda during Wednesday’s unveiling of new partnership between Arvest Bank and state tourism officials to create a limited edition series of specialty debit cards that showcase some of the state’s most scenic and popular attractions.

The eight debit card designs feature images from every area of the state including Blanchard Springs Caverns, Buffalo National River, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Lake Chicot State Park, Lake Ouachita, Petit Jean State Park, The Ridges at Village Creek and Whitaker Point near Boxley.

The cards will be available through June 2017 for new and current Arvest Bank customers at any of Northwest Arkansas banking group’s locations across Arkansas, as well as the communities the bank serves in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

“This is an opportunity that gives our customers access to unique designs for their specialty cards, along with the ability to show their sense of pride in Arkansas and promote it every time a transaction is made,” said Jason Kincy, spokesman for Arvest Bank. “The eight card designs differ in appearance, yet all display the inherent beauty of The Natural State.”

Kyle Proctor, vice president of marketing at Arvest, said the collaboration between the privately-held Bentonville-based banking group and the state Parks and Tourism department is a first-of-its-kind partnership between a state agency and an Arkansas bank to promote the state’s top tourism destinations.

Proctor said other banks can also join the partnership to promote the Natural State, but Arvest will have exclusive rights to the images and designs from the eight state parks featured Wednesday. Besides Arvest, most state-affiliated banks and credit unions now offer affinity bank cards, promoting everything from local charities and personal hobbies to college pride designs featuring logos and images of the Razorbacks and other Arkansas sports teams.

In partnering with Arvest, Webb said it was an easy decision to work with one of the largest banks in Arkansas and to have the opportunity to promote attractions outside the state as well.

According to Webb, Arkansas hosted more than 28 million visitors spending $7.2 billion in total travel expenditures, $374 million in state taxes and $137 million in local taxes. The economic impact of travel and tourism on the state’s economy showed an 8.69% increase in travel expenditures in 2015.

Growth in tourism jobs has also tracked with the growth in statewide tourism tax collections, said Arkansas’s travel and tourism industry travel generated payroll has grown from $240 million in 1979 to $1.3 billion in 2015, an increase of 447.6% over the last 36 years.

Webb said tourism is vital to Arkansas’s economy, and is projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries in the next decade. And even though general revenue collections were down for the first two months of the new fiscal year that began July 1, the state’s chief tourism promoter said growth is still on a strong trajectory.

“We actually got numbers back for the first two months of (fiscal 2017) and they are still strong, which is good to see and the momentum is still there,” Webb said.

In targeting millennial, or so-called Gen Y travelers that are defined as between the ages of 18 and 34 in 2015, Webb said state research shows that population spent 50% more of their disposable income on “experiences – instead of stuff.”

“They like to travel and they like what we (have) here – the adventure stuff in trails, mountain biking, hiking and camping out,” he said. “We are kind of fortunate in the way that Arkansas is built for the modern traveler. We just have to get the word out, which is what we are doing.”

Webb said the new advertising and marketing campaign will continue to target Arkansas’ “bread-and-butter” travelers that have been coming to the Natural State for years, including young families, retirees and Baby Boomers.

“But we can’t ignore a group that large and that active, so you will see us do more outreach to those 85 million millennials,” he said.