Big decline seen in Fort Smith hotel activity
by June 11, 2009 8:33 pm 59 views
The April hospitality tax collection report for Fort Smith hotels shows a large decline, perhaps the first indication of the true effect of storm-related hotel bookings in April 2008.
Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Claude Legris has said 2009 monthly comparisons could show big declines compared against 2008 when thousands of insurance agents, construction workers and others associated with the cleanup from the April 2008 hail storm kept hotel rooms booked for several m
onths.
Big declines, indeed.
The April 2009 report posted hospitality tax collections of $55,358, down 27.1% from the $75,996 in April 2008. Year-to-date the collections are $226,513, down 6.8% compared to the same period in 2008.
Fort Smith hospitality tax collections in 2008 totaled $803,591, 11% more than the $723,548 collected in 2007, and more than 19% above 2006 collections. The taxes are collected from a 3% tax on hotel room rates.
An associated factor driving the decline in hospitality tax collections is an average 3.7% decline in April 2009 room rates among the reporting hotels, combined with a higher room rate average in 2008 because the storm-related bookings were made at corporate (insurance adjustors, construction companies, etc.) rates, Legris explained.
He said the April decline in room rates is better than expected considering economic conditions.
“Our rate has held up well and that’s a credit to the hoteliers,” Legris said.
One hotelier Legris believes will help boost numbers in future months is the Homewood Suites, a Marion Driscoll property located at the main Phoenix Avenue entrance of the Fort Smith Regional Airport. Driscoll previously told The City Wire that the hotel cost more than $12 million to build.
The four-story, 88-suite hotel — featuring an indoor swimming pool and meeting room and affiliated with Hilton — opened Thursday (June 11), according to Homewood Sales Manager Becky Murphy. The upscale hotel opened with about 25 employees, Murphy said.
“We opened our doors at 2 (p.m.) today and 30 minutes later our first guest walked in,” Murphy said.
