Arkansas Tourism Ticker: Tax revenue, jobs point to continued industry gains
Healthy gains to begin 2023 for the state’s leisure and hospitality (tourism) sector are continuing. Arkansas’ tourism tax is up more than 10% between January and April, with average tourism sector jobs up more than 5% in the first four months of 2023.
Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax revenue between January and April was $7.547 million, up 10.4% compared with the $6.834 million in the same period of 2022. Revenue in each month of 2023 set a new record, with those gains compared to record numbers in 2022.
The tourism tax revenue in 2022 was $24.049 million, up 17% compared with the $20.544 million in 2021. Revenue set a new monthly record in June of $2.528 million, with collections for each month topping $1 million for the first time. The state’s 2% tourism tax revenue fell almost 23% in 2020, and fell to levels not seen since 2014.
January-April hospitality tax collections among 17 cities surveyed for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker were up 11.65% compared with the same period in 2022.
Monthly average tourism sector jobs in January-April 2023 was 127500, up 5.24% compared with 121,150 in the same period of 2022. The sector reached record monthly employment of 131,700 in May.
The Arkansas Tourism Ticker is managed by Talk Business & Politics, and sponsored by the Arkansas Hospitality Association. The ticker uses the following three measurements to review the health of the state’s tourism industry.
• Hospitality tax collections – prepared food tax and lodging tax – of 17 Arkansas cities (cities listed below along with collections for each city);
• Tourism sector employment numbers as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; and
• Collections of Arkansas’ 2% statewide tourism tax.
Results for the January-April 2023 Tourism Ticker report are:
• 11.65% increase
Hospitality tax revenue in January-April 2023 among 17 Arkansas cities reviewed for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker compared with the same period in 2022
• 10.4% increase
Collections of Arkansas’ 2% statewide tourism tax in January-April 2023 compared with the same period in 2022
• 5.2% increase
Gain in monthly average of Arkansas’ tourism industry jobs in January-April 2023 compared with the same period in 2022
Link here for a PDF of the January-April 2023 Arkansas Tourism Ticker.