Fort Smith, Van Buren tourism tax numbers down through March

Hospitality tax revenues are down somewhat in the Fort Smith metro area from last year thanks in part to uncertainty about national economic conditions, but area tourism officials say they are optimistic things will improve.

Hospitality tax collections for Fort Smith for March, the latest month for which totals are available, were $103,201, up 14.9% from the February collection, said Ashleigh Bachert, executive director of the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Year-to-date hospitality tax revenue is $279,222, down about 5% compared to last year, Bachert said. Fort Smith collects a 3% hospitality tax on lodging, and has no tax on prepared food.

“Most of the decline can be attributed to a decrease in corporate and government travel in January and February, coinciding with the federal government making significant cuts through the DOGE program,” Bachert said.

However, events the bureau was able to book contributed positively, resulting in a strong March, she said, adding that the overall figures are more in line with 2023, which was a great year for tourism in Fort Smith.

“I expect the latter half of the year to meet our targets,” she said. “We are continuing to pursue events and explore ways to remain competitive. We have strategically increased the number of sporting events compared to previous years, and this approach is working in our favor. Long-term investment in sports remains a key focus of mine, which can involve anything from developing a stronger volunteer pool to identifying better ways to offset costs for those events, and eventually considering the construction of a sports facility.”

Van Buren had $18,269 in hotel tax collections in March and $60,213.26 in prepared food tax collections for $78,482.43 in total tourism revenue for the month. That is a 24.95% increase from $62,813 collected in February and a 35.19% increase from $58,054 collected in January.

Year-to-date, Van Buren has collected $199,350 in combined hotel and prepared food tax collections, a 6.85% decline from $214,003 collected from the combined taxes in the same period of 2024.

“The A&P numbers are lower than last year, which is in line with general sales taxes for many locations,” said Maryl Purvis, director of the Van Buren Advertising and Promotion Commission. “I know several cities and counties in our area have seen a decline. I attribute that to uncertainty with the economy since January. It does appear to be getting better, which I had expected.”

Purvis said she monitors the situation when there is a hiccup with collections, but believes the regional tourism sector will post gains in the remainder of 2025. Though Van Buren still puts most of its emphasis on marketing Van Buren to visitors, how they do so has drastically changed over the years, Purvis said.

“Many of our efforts have shifted to online and social media marketing as well as streaming TV rather than cable,” she said.

The A&P also still supports events and attractions in the city because they help bring people into the city.

“We continue to look for ways to improve our tourism products,” Purvis said.