CAPC revenue rising

The City Advertising and Promotion Commission had a short agenda at their June 28 meeting last Wednesday, with a single funding request.

Suzanne Cearley, Director of Group Sales at the Basin Park and Crescent Hotels spoke for the hotels who are assisting in the Arkansas Parks, Recreation, and Travel Commission Meeting on Oct. 18 and 19. CAPC Chair Chris Clifton said that the manager of the hotels, Jack Moyer, wished for the CAPC to be the main ones handling the event, but Clifton said he wasn’t sure if it should be handled through a marketing fund request, and had asked Cearley to address that.

The event is an opportunity for members of Arkansas Parks and Tourism to visit and tour Eureka Springs, meet with local officials, see how the city markets itself, and how they might assist. Members will be staying at the Basin Park Hotel at the hotel’s expense and take shuttles and will have an opportunity to meet CAPC members and staff. The funds requested would cover dinner and transportation fees.

With some light discussion the CAPC chose to speak with their attorney to make sure that funds could be used for food and transportation cost so a decision on the request was not immediately made.

Finances looking healthy

In the financial report, Tourism Director Scott Bardin gave a positive review of May collections with YTD collections as of May 31 ending at $762,823. The $87,823 is 13 percent above the $675,000 expected budget so far this year, and $107,259, 16 percent higher, than the $655,564 collected in the same time in 2022.

Actual income for the month of May from Food & Beverage collections equaled $101,976 and lodging at $91,416 for a total of $193,392 for May. Bardin said the difference to 2022 was the inclusion of more activities in the city, including those made by local businesses and promoted through the CAPC. He pointed out that 93 percent of food and beverage collections were attributed to restaurants and that 26 percent of lodging collections were from B&B reservations.

Clifton questioned if B&B sales were up or down with Bardin saying they were stable, adding that he’d include comparisons of sales for B&Bs, hotels, and motels to each month last year.

One last thing

• The CAPC approved several past minutes of meetings that the city said had not been received, including the Dec. 28, 2022, regular meetings; March 8, 2023 Special meeting; and the March 18, 2023 Executive Session.