Tourism spending up nationwide in third quarter, Arkansas keeping pace

Americans spent $945 billion on tourism in the third quarter, and indirect, tourism-related spending totaled $1.6 trillion, according to a report published Wednesday (Dec. 13) by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Travel and tourism spending grew faster in the third quarter than it did in the second, at an annual rate of 6.6% compared to 6% in the second quarter.

The bureau lists leading increases in spending on travel accommodations and food and beverage services as key drivers in the upward trend. Traveler accommodations grew 13.5% in the third quarter after increasing 3.8% in the second quarter. Food and beverage services increased 0.6% after decreasing 1.4% in the previous quarter.

The spending boost also occurred alongside economic growth nationwide. Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.3% in the third quarter after increasing 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the BEA.

Joe David Rice, tourism director at Arkansas Parks & Tourism, said complete statewide numbers are not yet compiled for the third quarter, but he estimates 5.5% growth through September.

“We are easily keeping pace with the nation,” Rice said.

He attributes that to the fact the state keeps adding new attractions, in addition to the strength of the economy, both in Arkansas and nationwide.

“The economy is strong, consumer confidence is high and unemployment is low,” he said, so people are taking that money and using it for travel and entertainment.

Meanwhile, organizations and communities are adding new venues and new programs.

“In many respects Arkansas is like a giant theme park, and we continue to add those new rides,” he said.

Rice pointed to a recent exhibition of works from American artist Dale Chihuly at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville as an example.

With the exhibition of Chihuly: In the Gallery and In the Forest, on display earlier this year, the museum added new outdoor gallery space and trails in the form of its North Forest, in addition to attracting more than 207,000 visitors, according to Crystal Bridges. It is the highest-attended exhibition in the museum’s six-year history.

New attractions like that entice people to return to the museum, while also bringing in new visitors, Rice said.

In the southern part of the state, tens of millions of dollars from private investors went into the first phase of Murphy Arts District, which opened in El Dorado this fall. It includes an outdoor amphitheater that seats about 8,000 and a 2,000-seat music hall. In northeast Arkansas, the Johnny Cash Heritage Festival was introduced this year, Rice said.

The future is also bright in the realm of new attractions, Rice said. Upcoming additions to the state tourism scene include the U.S. Marshals Museum, expected to open in 2019 in Fort Smith, a planned 44-mile bike trail in Hot Springs and expansion of the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Visitor Center in Dyess.

In El Dorado, in addition to the second phase of the Murphy Arts District, which is planned to include the state’s largest outdoor playscape for children, renovation of the 1920s-era Rialto Theater and an art gallery and artist lodging for artists-in-residence.

“We’re very enthusiastic,” said Rice, who leaves his post as director at the end of the year. Former Little Rock Mayor Jim Daily has been announced as his successor. “There are a dozen or so attractions in the work that will make our product that much more attractive,” he said.

EMPLOYMENT AND PRICES
Total tourism-related employment in the U.S. was 7.9 million jobs during the quarter. About 5.5 million or 70% of those jobs are directly in the tourism industry, while the remainder is listed as tourism-related.

Employment in the industry decelerated, growing 1.2% in the third quarter after increasing 2.1% in the second. Meanwhile, overall U.S. employment growth remained steady in that time, increasing 1.3%  in the third quarter after increasing 1.3% in the second quarter, according to BEA.

The traveler accommodations industry lost 800 employees in the third quarter after adding 6,400 employees in the second quarter.

Food and beverage services added about 5,600 employees in this quarter after adding 11,800 employees in the previous quarter, according to the bureau.

Prices for travel and tourism goods and services decreased 1.1% in the third quarter. This was a smaller decrease than the 3.2% decline in the second quarter. The decrease mainly appeared in traveler accommodations and passenger air transportation.

Prices for traveler accommodations decreased 9.9% in the third quarter, a larger decline than the 0.3% decrease in the previous quarter. In the third quarter, passenger air transportation prices decreased 6.7% after decreasing 3.4% in the second quarter, according to BEA.

Transportation-related commodity prices increased in the third quarter. This price, which includes gasoline, increased 7.4% in the third quarter after decreasing 11.2% in the previous quarter, according to the bureau.

Arkansas has the fifth-lowest gas price in the nation now, according to AAA.

The bureau also said it will discontinue quarterly travel and tourism statistics reports due to budget constraints but will continue to provide yearly updates each June.