An ad hoc City of Holiday Island meeting to discuss studies for advertising and promotion took place March 7. Mayor Dan Kees shared that he would be recording the meeting per his lawyer’s instructions, and recordings would be available on the Holiday Island city website.
The purpose of the meeting was to determine potential sources for revenue for an advertising and promotion committee, estimating what annual revenues could be used to fund the A&P, and in what ways the revenues collected could be used.
Since the city is new, very little advertising has been done. The main focus of Vern Anderson’s HIPRO group was to promote properties for sale in Holiday Island and promote the Holiday Island lifestyle in order to draw new homeowners and investors looking to buy and run short-term rental properties like AirBnBs. He said that HIPRO had worked with a $12,000 budget and used CJRW marketing, the Arkansas Traveler’s Guide, and digital ad listings, averaging 700 visitors in two months, to draw people from south Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.
Committee Chair Peggy Lodewyks of the Holiday Island Chamber of Commerce, said that her research of the seven restaurants in HI could bring in $1.4 million, and $5.6 million on average from the 57 to 200 short-term rental properties in the area. If the A&P were to get one percent of these revenues from restaurants and three percent from short-term rentals, they could be used to promote the area.
She added to this half of the short-term rental properties in the 72631 zip code, the ones she said did not count as Eureka Springs West, might bring in an additional $247,000 if they took three percent of the $8.2 million she estimated from those properties. She said that 60 percent of the income that would drive the A&P would come from these sources.
Kees asked Aspen Vaught, a short-term rental business owner, if these numbers seemed correct with her earnings. Vaught said that for her it depends on location of the property and how it is presented on sites such as VRBO and AirBnB, that there is money there and that advertising would help to grow more revenue.
Ken Brown, representing the Holiday Island Suburban Improvement District, said that people were already selling their homes, some even selling their furniture with them, to AirBnB. The focus of Anderson’s HIPRO, as he mentioned several times, was to get people to move to the area. It was unclear whether the committee was at all concerned with the issues that their neighbor Eureka Springs has been dealing with of decreasing long-term properties and increasing short-term rentals causing a housing shortage.
However, Kees did say that law restricts how the A&P could use funds collected, that it could not be applied to the Chamber, and could only be used for advertisement for tourism and conventions.
Lodewycks discussed tourists wanting to do day trips, advertising in the Ozark Mountains Fun Guide and travel brochures, as well as using either static or digital billboards on Hwys. 23 or 187 to redirect visitors to stop by Holiday Island. She said she had spoken with Madden Media, which works with the CAPC, about a rough plan for ways to promote HI.
Vaught suggested hiring a professional golfer or fisherman to come and shoot videos or ads at the golf course and marina. Lodewycks pointed out HI has things Eureka Springs can’t provide such as peace, quiet, parking, and the marina. Kees agreed and encouraged the A&P to show families enjoying HI, as they would have more to offer families than Eureka Springs.
Kees said that city council would need to establish a tax, create a commission, and have an election, but he was unsure about what all would need to be done to order the election. He said their lawyer would advise them.
Kees mentioned Ord. 2675602, which enacts levying or increasing taxes. He also said that a special election could only be held during an election year, they have a 75-day window from when city council approves the commission to hold an election. They must allow 30 days for people to challenge the ordinance.
At the latest, the mayor said they would have to read and vote on this by July for the third reading. Lodewycks avowed that mainly tourists, who would then support amenities, would pay the tax on restaurants and short-term rentals.
Kees said that they would have to do some salesmanship to get citizens onboard. Ken Brown said since one of the promises of becoming a city had been that they would not create taxes they needed to stress that technically this was not a property tax or a sales tax on groceries.
City council member Linda Graves said that people should understand that as a city grows taxes are going to come up, regardless of promises made. Brown said this was a good point as there is a terminal point in 2041 or 2042 at which the city will have to take on more responsibilities and deal with taxes for things such as roads, the fire department, and more, and the city will need to get the money from somewhere.
Kees said 100 percent of that would be borne by property owners, but what was being discussed with the A&P was an opportunity to bring in tourists to make money to pay for the “stuff” the city wants.
Graves said that advertising would help lure more people to buy lots and properties to become a tourist town, and any tourist town has tax for advertising. Lodewycks said on the positive side this would bring in more restaurants and shops, with Anderson agreeing that the city is a resort community.
Lodewycks wanted all of this brought up at the March council meeting to talk about how to market the city and present the research. Kees hoped that citizens would attend and give input and support for the city’s plan, and encouraged people to attend the meeting.
The next meeting was scheduled for Saturday, March 16 at 3 pm. Lodewycks also brought to the committee’s attention the opening of the Holiday Island Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, which is being manned by volunteers Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. – to 3 p.m. at 6 Forest Park, Suite C.