Travelers Hall, the meeting room behind Travelers Inn, was packed on Tuesday morning with more than 50 residents and business owners discussing efforts to stop a petition for referendum to shut down the City Advertising and Promotion Commission. The gathering reached a healthy beats per minute as Heart of Eureka members and others focused on how the CAPC functions, how tax dollars are collected, and what needs to be done in the future to keep business owners and residents confident in CAPC efforts to market town.
Sandy Martin, chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development, spoke on the economic impact of tourism on the city. With net collection of the 3 percent CAPC tax equaling $2,053,575, the total gross revenue generated in Eureka Springs was $68,452,500 for 2023. Combined with the 2 percent Sales and Use tax, total gross revenue equals $163,577,500. Martin and others who spoke mentioned that when a visitor pays for lodging and food and drink, they are not only paying for the 3 percent marketing tax but also the Sales and Use tax used to fund other city departments.
Martin also drew comparison to the Covid-19 pandemic and in 2020 when the city shut down across the board, referencing that during that time the transit department took a heavy hit from lack of use. Without tourism, transit is not used and loses needed maintenance revenue.
She addressed rumors that tourism was down 30 percent over last year, saying that statistics from the Economic Task Force and the state showed Eureka Springs tourism was only down 10 percent. She said that the ED Task Force generally sees the sharp increase of tourism revenue from 2022 – 2023, and that this year it is beginning to equalize to previous year-over-year increases before the 2020 pandemic.
Jack Moyer, general manager of the Basin Park and Crescent Hotels, spoke on how Eureka Springs, despite having a budget of only $2 million, manages to compete with larger destinations such as Fort Smith, Hot Springs, and Bentonville, although Hot Springs budget for marketing is reaching $11 million. Moyer said the tourism dollar is “a highly competitive market” and that if Eureka Springs suddenly drops to no marketing funds the impact will be immediate.
Referencing the city auditorium, Moyer said he could remember when plastic sheeting was over the windows, adding that no one wants to see the Aud disappear. He said that if the petition raises enough signatures to pass that the city wouldn’t just be “having a conversation” on the CAPC’s role – “We make the magic… the CAPC tells people about it” and continued by saying that other cities such as Bentonville have to spend a lot of money seeking the same “magic” that Eureka Springs already has.
CAPC Tourism Director Mike Maloney echoed similar sentiments when he spoke iterating that when tourists spend money in town, they not only pay the CAPC tax but also city and county taxes. He reminded attendees that without tourism other tax revenue is hampered and that, “It’s not just a trickle-down, it’s a tsunami.”
Co-owner of the Wanderoo Lodge and Gravel Bar, Ethan Avanzino, prompted the crowd to sign up to notifications from Heart of Eureka for future meetings and discussions. Avanzino also helped organize full-page advertisements to go into the Eureka Springs Independent for three consecutive weeks with help from other businesses educating readers on the role of the CAPC and how tax dollars are spent. He urged if others wish to help with any amount, it is appreciated.
Maloney mentioned that the full page ad that ran July 31in ESI had been sent to Tourism Directors across the state, as a group known as Opportunity Arkansas is seeking to petition the state to dissolve the A&P tax in Arkansas.
Across the board, attendees were supportive of keeping the CAPC tax and there was discussion about how the CAPC maintains the confidence of business owners and the electorate in the future.
Several times members addressed the “elephant in the room” regarding the commission and feelings that, in the past, the commission had overstepped its authority. Laci Moffitt, one of the organizers of Heart of Eureka and of the event Tuesday, mentioned that in the past the commission had only functioned as oversight to the director and staff rather than being more intimately involved in operations. Moffitt also said that if the department is dissolved as the petition for referendum suggests, there won’t be an opportunity to fix past mismanagement.
Concern was also voiced on how both voters and business owners could learn of the CAPC’s marketing efforts, geofencing, and marketing statistics and asked that transparency on how money is spent be easily accessible. Several times as well it was suggested that the CAPC use fact over feelings when deciding how best to market this destination. Regarding marketing insights, CAPC Administrative Manager Danyelle Harris said that information regarding visitor statistics, insights, and efforts could be found at visiteurekasprings.com/partners.
The meeting lasted nearly two hours with Moffitt summarizing at one point that even if all attendees don’t agree on everything “We all agree on one thing – We Love Eureka.”
Rodney Slane, co-owner of Slane Tavern, Grotto Wood-Fired Grill, Sauced Barbeque and Brews, and The Filling Station Restaurant spoke about the overstepping of previous commission chairs. In speaking with him after the meeting Slane said that he would like to see some mechanism in place to keep commissions from overstepping authority. While he said he didn’t know what that might look like, he said he wants to see that in place for the future of the CAPC.
Speaking with Coltan Scrivner, organizer of Zombie Crawl and owner of Peabody House, he said his concern was a lack of visitors coming to town should the CAPC be dissolved. Scrivner pointed to the first year he ran the Zombie Crawl in 2022 that he did not have marketing support from the CAPC, and the event only got the interest of 2,000 people on Facebook. By 2023, and with marketing support of $5,000, Scrivener was able to garner the interest of 20,000 people and the event was more successful.
The CAPC directly assists funding the marketing of many events with marketing support and without that CAPC tax, those events would lose that funding assistance.