In a follow-up to past conversations on a new Welcome Center in Eureka Springs, City Advertising and Promotion Commission Tourism Director Mike Maloney provided an update to the commission during the Oct. 28 regular meeting. Maloney said he had spoken with three regional research firms, meeting with members of their teams, and explaining what the CAPC would be looking for when it comes to a welcome center and services it may offer. He said that they’d have to see bids from these firms and there’d be more updates to come. Currently, the CAPC has an agreement with the Eureka Springs Historical Museum to act as a visitor center.
Maloney said that all three firms mentioned difficulty parking in town, and this led to discussing the merits of an official welcome center with a parking garage attached. Commissioner Coltan Scrivner said he had mixed feelings on a parking garage. He noted past conversations have been on just the merits of a parking garage and said that bundled with a welcome center might be worth the investment. Chair Shira Fouste said a welcome center could provide more public restrooms for visitors, and Commission Susane Gruning said it could provide easier ADA access to town.
Commissioners also discussed the 2027 budget, with intention to look over a first draft at their next workshop on Nov. 11. Maloney explained the 2027 will be a “flat budget” meaning close to what the 2026 budget is. He said due to political unease, transportation costs increasing and other factors, they want to err on caution for the next budget.
He explained key points that will be present in the budget including the cutting back in how many travel shows staff attend in 2027 by 50 percent. The CAPC may look into a mobile travel van for display at local and regional events and what costs would be. There would be no budget changes for Karsh Hagan Madden Digital Marketing, though there would be reallocation of resources including a harder push in PR work the firm does for town.
Scrivner said they shouldn’t be afraid to be creative with a mobile van to help identify it with Eureka Springs. He said it could serve a purpose even when not on the road, “Please don’t just get a van and wrap it. Do something cool with it.”
Commissioners also discussed the future construction of the roundabout at the intersections of Hwy. 23 and US 62 and how that might affect tourism traffic in the coming years.
Giving Reports
In the finance report, the CAPC has $1,665,000 in their bank accounts. September actual collections were $192,000 with a budget of $190,000. Year-to-date collections are $1,545,000 with a budget of $1,472,000. September income met its budget of $217,000 and expenditures were $257,000 with a budget of $250,000. Year-to-date expenditures are $1,716,000 with a budget of $1,889,000.
Finance Director Ty Reed also gave August collection comparisons with $175,000 this year compared to $201,000 in 2025. He said while August had taken a hit in collections, this year’s collections were up compared to last year overall. He also broke down collections in August with $78,000 coming from lodging collections compared to $92,000 last year and $97,000 from restaurants compared to $108,000 last year.
Maloney covered online response in markets during the Director’s Report, speaking on cities where CAPC web traffic comes from including Kansas City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Little Rock and others. He took a few moments to speak on growth in traffic from the Little Rock area, saying the CAPC seasonally runs video ads through their partnership with Azira Television, as well as how much marketing of 2024/2025 Bash with a Splash had gone toward the central Arkansas area. He noted staff have noticed the more the CAPC appears in the central region, the more “love we get from the state.”
He spoke on the PR Karsh Hagan Madden had secured in the month of September with 16 slots including in Southern Living, Travel Bulletin and others secured. He reminded commissioners those placements are not paid for and used the strong PR presence that KHM is able to provide as reasoning behind reallocation of their budget in 2027 toward it. Maloney also spoke on the Arkansas Hospitality Awards, with Katelyn Jerrell winning Employee of the Year at the event and ES being nominated for the Pinnacle Promotion Award.
Other Items
- The CAPC has put $250,000 into a CD with Equity Bank.
- CAPC spoke on the open position on the commission. Gruning noted they’ve had an application in for the position for some months. When the commission wants to tackle to fill that position is up to them, but commissioners discussed how they may get more than a single application in for the volunteer position.
I personally know of people who gave up left the city because they couldn’t find a place to park for the zombie crawl. With a parking deck, more people would have stayed.
Myer’s comment is flawed.
I have been under the impression that the CAPC is responsible for getting tourists here and the Chamber of Commerce is responsible for providing tourists with a reason to stay! We just had the largest number of visitors to Eureka that we have ever seen. The Zombie Crawl was the event that was responsible for this. The infrastructure and dining facilities were overwhelmed with some of the extra food trucks running out of food before the event started! This was proof that an expensive parking garage is not needed!