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Webb: State Needs ‘More Swagger’ in Approach to Tourism

2 min read

Tourism is changing as millennials’ interests and spending habits affect the industry, according to Kane Webb, executive director of the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism.

Webb spoke at the Little Rock Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon on Tuesday, addressing the growth of tourism in Arkansas how the state must be more widely advertised as a travel destination.

According to Webb, millennials — the generation that’s come of age in the new millennium — “is driving how we change the tourism industry.” For example, rather than spend a week relaxing on the beach, the younger generation is looking for more memorable experiences.

“Millennials will spend 15 percent more of their income on experiences than stuff,” Webb said. “They want to experience what’s going on in the places they visit … But they are very particular in what they want to do.”

In fiscal 2015, Arkansas’ 2 percent tourism tax collections set a record high of about $14.1 million. Webb said this can likely be attributed in part to low gas prices and a mild winter, but is nonetheless a positive sign for Arkansas’ tourism industry.

“Tourism is economic development, I truly believe this,” Webb said.

Webb said that new destination such as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville have helped to get the ball rolling for certain cities and areas of the state.

Another example: the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. Visitors will come from far away to visit these iconic locations and, while they’re in the state, will experience a variety of other attractions, he said.

Webb said he believes that Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Visitor Center in Dyess could be another of those major attractions in the near future.

“I would love to not be the surprise anymore,” Webb said about Arkansas. “We’re a great state and a leader in a lot of things and we need to get that beyond our borders.”

Webb said he is tired of people visiting Arkansas and not expecting great things, that people should come with higher expectations, and that people in Arkansas should be more proud of their home state.

“I think we need a little more swagger in our approach,” he said.

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