Arkansas Tourism Ticker: Tourism tax numbers down through August, job numbers up
Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax revenue declined almost 2% in the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. Hospitality tax revenue in surveyed cities is also down through August.
The 2% tourism tax revenue between January and August was $18.056 million, down 1.82% compared with the $18.392 million in the same period of 2024. The 2025 numbers are compared against a healthy 2024 in which the tourism tax was up 4.77% compared with 2023 collections.
Despite the 2% revenue being down through August, the July and August numbers totaled $4.934 million, up 1.1% compared with the same period in 2024. Also, the August revenue of $2.285 million set a new monthly record. The previous record was $2.234 million in August 2023.
January-August hospitality tax collections among 17 cities surveyed for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker were down 1% compared with the same period in 2024.
The Arkansas Tourism Ticker is managed by Talk Business & Politics, and sponsored by the Arkansas Hospitality Association and the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism. 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-August 2025 Tourism Ticker report are:
• 1% decline
Hospitality tax revenue in January-August 2025 among 17 Arkansas cities reviewed for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker compared with the same period in 2024
• 1.82% decrease
Collections of Arkansas’ 2% statewide tourism tax in January-August 2025 compared with the same period in 2024
• 1.6% increase
Gain in the monthly average of Arkansas’ tourism industry jobs in January-August 2025 compared with the same period in 2024
The combined hospitality tax collections in the 17 cities totaled $48.076 million in January-August 2025, down 1% compared with the $48.57 million in the same period of 2024.
Monthly average tourism sector jobs in January-August 2025 were 130,837, up 1.6% compared with 128,800 in the same period of 2024. The sector in the January-August period reached record employment of 132,100 in July. Sector jobs have fully recovered from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when job numbers fell to an estimated 74,200 in April 2020.
Link here for a PDF of the complete Arkansas Tourism Ticker report for the January-August 2025 period.