This has been an extraordinarily good year for tourism in Hot Springs and Garland County, and 2016 also looks very promising.
Despite poor weather at the beginning of 2015, the year saw an excellent recovery, and we have experienced healthy growth throughout the industry.
The most reliable barometer for tourism in Hot Springs is the collection of our 3 percent hotel and restaurant tax. Collection of that tax showed double-digit increases for the last five months, and are up by 8.89 percent for the year to date.
Several positive developments by Hot Springs attractions and businesses help explain this growth:
• Credit should go to Oaklawn Racing & Gaming for increasing the visibility of its gaming product and for increased purses, which in turn spurred a marked improvement in the quality of thoroughbreds that raced at the track — and the number of fans who came to watch. This included the historic performance by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who started his spectacular year with wins in the Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. Oaklawn’s decision to feature Hot Springs and its many attractions in its massive marketing campaign is a factor driving the positive numbers for everyone. Oaklawn’s decision was the result of consumer research and collaborative meetings with the city that explored how best to increase the overall tourism draw in our community.
• Mid-America Science Museum completed a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion that has resulted in large increases in visitors as well as attention from groups such as the American Institute of Architects, which recently gave the museum two awards.
• The opening of a brewery pub/restaurant in the Superior Bathhouse has brought increased attention to Bathhouse Row and the architectural treasures that reside there.
• A new Courtyard by Marriott hotel and a Holiday Inn Express added to the lodging available in our drive-to destination.
• Work started in November by the new owner on a complete renovation of the Austin Hotel adjacent to the Hot Springs Convention Center.
• Work also is underway on the conversion of the historic Thompson Building into a boutique hotel in the downtown area on Central Avenue across from Bathhouse Row.
• Plans were announced for the use of one of the remaining bathhouses as a luxury bed-and-breakfast.
• A new documentary film about Hot Springs as the birthplace of baseball spring training — “The First Boys of Spring” by Emmy-winning filmmaker Larry Foley — premiered at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and attracted nationwide attention to our city’s Historic Baseball Trail. The film is due for nationwide distribution in the spring.
• The FLW World Championship bass-fishing tournament in August focused the sporting world’s attention on the Spa City and our three beautiful lakes.
The coming year promises more positive developments as work begins on removing the old Majestic Hotel, with plans for public use of that key property at the intersection of Park, Central and Whittington avenues to be decided soon.
Attractions like the world-famous World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade continue to bring people to the city, and the addition of a planned Buffalo Days festival and a world-championship water-tasting event in 2016 promise to increase interest.
Because Hot Springs is a drive-to destination, the outlook for continued affordable gasoline prices provides another cause for increased optimism for tourism growth in 2016.
While economic development efforts are a never-ending activity for all cities, including Hot Springs, tourism continues to be the prime driver of the city’s economy — as it has for more than a century:
• Visitors to Garland County generated $686 million for the local economy in 2014, the latest year for which full data are available.
• More than 7,000 jobs in Garland County are directly supported by travel and tourism.
• Garland County led all but one county (Pulaski County) in total travel expenditures in 2014.
• Leisure and hospitality account for more than 20 percent of Garland County’s workforce, higher than the national average of 12.67 percent and state average of 9 percent.
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Steve Arrison is the CEO of Visit Hot Springs. |
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