Nicky Boyette – CAPC Executive Director Mike Maloney announced at last week’s workshop that four representatives of Bike Magazine, the quintessential periodical for mountain bikers, rode the trails at Lake Leatherwood City Park recently and told him they want to do a story on the biking trails of LLCP and other venues in northwest Arkansas, and post video footage posted on their website. Maloney heard similar exposure in the magazine was a boon to a town in Vermont, and remarked that biking is becoming a great niche market for bringing visitors to town.
Bikers are not the only ones checking out Eureka Springs, Maloney told commissioners. The television show, Hotel Impossible wants to come to town. This Travel Channel program is a reality show in which hotel expert Anthony Melchiorri and his team spend three days remaking a hotel in need of remodeling. Maloney said the conversations he has heard indicate the show wants to film here this spring. It has not been decided which business will be featured.
Maloney also commented that Eureka Springs’s presence on social media has been “vibrant.” More than 2,000,000 tweets referenced Eureka Springs in February. Dallas continued to rank as the number one source looking for information about Eureka Springs, but Chicago moved into second place. Maloney ascribed its ascension to Sales Director Karen Pryor’s recent appearances at trade shows there.
Maloney said he had partnered with Arkansas Parks and Tourism to place a quarter page ad in Garden & Gun magazine, a high-end lifestyle publication with a circulation of 1.3 million, popular with a targeted group of potential visitors across the South. The magazine features articles on food, music, arts and culture, the sporting life and travel.
Next regular CAPC meeting will be Wednesday, April 13, at 6 p.m.