Tourism Tax Collections Still Climbing in NWA

Joe David Rice can rattle off one destination after another that’s helping Northwest Arkansas become a more popular place for tourists to come and spend their money.

But it takes more than just the attractions to help a growing industry.

“One thing you can’t overlook in this business is the friendliness of the people of Northwest Arkansas,” said Rice, the state’s tourism director, based in Little Rock. “[Tourists] are treated well and when you have that welcoming attitude that makes my job a lot easier.”

According to the most recent data available from the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism, Northwest Arkansas continues to see steady growth in tourism-tax collections.

From 2008 through 2012, in the six-county region of Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Madison, Sebastian and Washington counties, tourism-tax collections grew 13.8 percent to $3.38 million, which equates to a little more than 27 percent of the statewide total of $12.4 million.

The data reflects the totals from a 2 percent sales tax that is collected on tourism-related business, including lodging, theme parks, marinas and camping.

Collection figures from 2013 were only complete through the month of November, but assuming average totals in December, they are on-pace to exceed totals from 2012, with a total of $3.3 million collected through the first 11 months. That reflects spending of $165.16 million through the end of November.

In a simpler year-over-year comparison, tourism-tax collections in the six-county area grew by 7.1 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Benton County continues to lead the industry in the six-county area with $1.28 million in tourism-tax collections in 2012 and $1.35 million through the first 11 months of 2013.

In fact, Rice notes that Benton County ranks second among the state’s 75 counties in tourism-tax collections, just behind Pulaski County.

“And Benton County is about 30 percent ahead of Garland County,” Rice said, referring to the tourist hot spot of Hot Springs.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville is, no doubt, an anchor for the strong numbers, but Benton County’s industry-leading numbers indicate a strong performance in the hotel market as much as anything.

Much of the state tourism tax comes from lodging, and the majority of travel to Benton County is from business travelers, suppliers and vendors in town to do business with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Rice, the state’s tourism director since 1987, praised the area’s leaders for giving tourists new reasons to visit.

“Benton County has done a fabulous job of adding new attractions,” he said. “It’s like a theme park. The way marketers get folks to come back the following year is to add a new ride. And that’s what they have done in Benton County. Every time I go up there, there’s something new.”

Rice explained that even Crystal Bridges keeps things fresh by bringing in new exhibitions on a frequent basis, mentioning the popularity of the Norman Rockwell exhibit last spring — which drew 121,000 visitors in its 11-week run — as well as a temporary exhibit that just ended earlier in February featuring the works of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz.

“I like Stieglitz and O’Keeffe so I went up there to see that,” Rice noted. “An institution like Crystal Bridges is still offering that new ride every three to six months. That is the challenge for a lot of folks.”

Crawford County, with Van Buren as the county seat, was up 10.46 percent in tourism-tax collections during the last five years to $137,094.

Collections exceeded that amount by 12.88 percent in just 11 months of 2013, up to $154,757.

“Van Buren has a great downtown, and in many respects it’s the gateway to Northwest Arkansas,” Rice said. “By virtue of being on Interstate 40 they have about 25,000 cars go by each day. We’re hopeful that our new welcome center on the west side of town has maybe talked some of those travelers into getting off the interstate and spending the night in Van Buren.”

Washington County saw a five-year increase of 15.48 percent, up to $895,552 in tourism-tax collections through the end of 2012.