The Arkansas Hospitality Association will host its annual convention on Tuesday, highlighting vendors and businesses from around the state and presenting the 2015 marketing plan from the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism.
Convention highlights include a golf tournament, trade show and Iron Chef competition, according to Montine McNulty, executive director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association.
“It’s a time for industry to get together and network, see new products and a lot of competitions,” McNulty said. “It’s a time to renew business and have fun and rejuvenate and go back home and do great things.”
The hospitality industry is leading job growth in the state, and McNulty said that, according to the Department of Workforce Services, will continue to do so until 2020. She said restaurants likely lead this growth, but there are a significant number of hotels that have recently opened or with plans to open as well.
“People who come to the convention will know what the state’s going to do next year to market Arkansas and their businesses,” McNulty said. “The culinary events I think inspire chefs and restaurants to do more in that area and they get great publicity and have bragging rights over winning things … I think that the industry gets the big picture of the success of this industry and the jobs that are being created and the economic impact that we have on Arkansas. Most people in the state don’t realize that we are the No. 2 industry in Arkansas.”
McNulty said that she expects a couple thousand people attend the conference, mainly from the hospitality, restaurant and travel sectors.
The Arkansas Hospitality Association also takes note of new rules and regulations that impact the industry. The U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule would increase the salary threshold under which workers qualify for overtime pay from $23,660 to $50,440
For more information about the convention, a full schedule of events and to register you can visit the website.
It will take place Tuesday-Thursday at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
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