Reading The Future: Tourism & Hospitality (40 Years of Arkansas Business)

Bicyclists ride on the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (Photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and & Tourism)

Editor’s note: This article is part of a special magazine celebrating 40 years of Arkansas Business. The full magazine is available here.

The future of the tourism and hospitality industry in Arkansas is so bright you just might need shades, particularly if you came to the state to view the total solar eclipse on April 8.

That’s the view of industry officials interviewed by Arkansas Business. “The Arkansas tourism industry has never been stronger,” said Shea Lewis, director of Arkansas State Parks. “That is the basis of the future of where we’re going.”

Tourist visits to the state keep increasing every month, Lewis said, and the goal is to make Arkansas the leading destination for outdoor recreation, “biking, hiking, floating, hunting, fishing.”

He hopes to see the Arkansas Tourism Division become a leader in the nation in advertising, marketing and promoting the state and the activities and resources available.
“We really want to be bold in the presentation of our state,” Lewis said. “We want people to know that Arkansas is beautiful but also adventurous, a place where you can come and have a unique experience.”

The state has expanded its promotion efforts into 14 new markets, he said, targeting areas “that have a connection to the outdoor recreation industry, whether that’s biking or paddling or perhaps cold-weather markets, out West, where if you want to get out of the snow but you still want to ride your mountain bike, you can come to Arkansas.”
The state is also leveraging technology, looking carefully at the data its advertising and marketing efforts produce. “We’re going to have performance indicators that really tell us how effective all this is, so we can really optimize the future campaigns,” Lewis said.

Katie Beck, director of the Arkansas Hospitality Association, noted that the tourism and hospitality industry is the state’s second-largest. “And throughout last year, we saw continued record growth, and I fully expect that to continue,” she said. “We are seeing huge growth in the outdoor economy, outdoor recreation, but also in experience travel.”

Experience travel generally is defined as travel that goes beyond sightseeing to a more fully immersive experience of a destination’s history, culture, people and food. Beck gave the example of Origami Sake, the sake brewery in Hot Springs, as a place that enhances the visitor experience.

These are places “where friends and family come together,” she said, providing unique exposure to the culture of the state.

Lewis echoed Beck in emphasizing the importance of providing one-of-a-kind experiences to visitors to Arkansas. They want to “find a unique place to eat, where they can share that on Instagram and on TikTok or other social media outlets or just talk about to their friends.

“The other thing that’s really big within the industry are events,” he said. “We’re seeing the growth of events. We’re seeing unique events, like the Arkansas Graveler, which is a bike ride on the gravel roads and the backroads of Arkansas.”

Tommy Keet is the president of JTJ Restaurants, the company behind brands like Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, Waldo’s Chicken & Beer, Cypress Social, Count Porkula, Petit & Keet and Big Bad Breakfast. For restaurants to survive and thrive in the future, they will need “to commit to outstanding service,” he said.
“There are always going to be multiple choices, great choices, but if you can provide great food and a great environment and with great service, it’s going to trump somewhere with great food but poor service,” Keet said.

In addition, “third-party delivery will continue to be an important driver for the restaurant business,” he said.

As for food and menu trends, Keet repeated a comment with which he heartily agreed: “The food needs to be familiar enough for comfort but different enough to be interesting.”