Nicky Boyette – Director Justin Huss of the Parks Department told the City Advertising and Promotion Commission at its June 8 meeting he sees all the city’s parks as attractions for tourists, but Lake Leatherwood City Park is getting the most attention because of the boom in mountain biking in northwest Arkansas. The trails at Lake Leatherwood City Park are becoming “a known attraction,” and Huss said people from all over the country are coming here to check out biking trails.
Growth in mountain biking in the area is the reason the International Mountain Biking Association will be holding its annual summit in Bentonville in November. “This could be an incredible opportunity for us,” Huss said. “We’re on the map and this could help show us off.”
He said every person at the IMBA summit would be an influencer who could spread the word about this corner of the state. “They are the multipliers,” Huss said. He noted that industry representatives will attend the summit, and the city should make them aware Eureka Springs is open for equipment testing 12 months a year. He contended the city should prepare to market itself not only at this event, but others like it to capitalize on the biking boom.
Huss mentioned there are trails being built along the Kings River as well, so Eureka Springs finds itself between different trail systems. “We want them [bikers] to know this is where to stay.”
Huss announced Parks intends to invest $22,500 to build a bike camp at LLCP this year and have it ready for the summit. “We’re all in on this event,” he said. “We’ll look back on this year and see that something changed.”
Executive Director Mike Maloney added he was working on a punch list of things CAPC could provide to market the town at these events.
Commissioner Damon Henke stated the rising interest in biking gives the city an opportunity to paint the picture of Eureka Springs as not only a Victorian village for a family weekend but a prime outdoor destination.
Reports
- Finance Director Rick Bright reported that year-to-date collections, which are through April 30, are up 22.4 percent over the same period last year, which was a good year for collections. Alderman James DeVito pointed out, “The significant numbers are spread across the board.” Bright’s report stated collections in every category – restaurants, hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts, cabins & cottages – were up.
- Events coordinator Dori Thomas provided a recap of activities that she hopes will soon include having a movie night at the Auditorium. She said there has been a bump in the number of inquiries about using the auditorium for different kinds of acts. She mentioned the Fleur Delicious Weekend would occur July 5 – 10.
- Maloney reported analytics indicate the age group most frequently looking online for Eureka Springs is 25-34, 62 percent female, within the past 90 days. He said the usual suspects are still the most frequent web visitors but Memphis, Nashville, Chicago and San Francisco are starting to look at Eureka Springs.
He said the next big ad from Rightmind promotes “Get Out in Eureka Springs” which is all about outdoors. Rightmind also created an ad directed at Walmart suppliers to entice them to have their small meetings in Eureka Springs.
Maloney said the Eureka Springs app is running, and gives the viewer a big shot of Eureka Springs. He also announced he is able to use the digital billboard in Tulsa to promote the free show in Basin Park on Saturday and maybe pull over some weekenders.
Also, Maloney said he could not explain a sudden spike in the number of views of Eureka Springs videos on Youtube. He said there were 33,000 visits to videos about Eureka Springs from mid-April to mid-May. He noted videos on social media is the way to reach millennials.
Next workshop will be Wednesday, June 22, at 4 p.m., at the CAPC office, and the next regular meeting will be Wednesday, July 13, at 6 p.m.