Arkansas Tourism

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted officials to encourage people not to travel, causing the cancellation of many vacation plans. But the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism and its partners are urging residents to enjoy some time off while staying in the state.

Tuesday was National Plan for Vacation Day, with officials saying there are plenty of things to do while remaining safe. Tourism is a vital part of the state's economy.

Hospitality, travel, and tourism have been the hardest hit industries during COVID-19. Think restaurants, hotels, caterers, meeting facilities, trade shows and the cottage industries that support those businesses ranging from florists to event planners to lighting and banquet logistics companies.

Gretchen Hall, CEO of the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau, views it as the business challenge of a lifetime and the end is nowhere in sight.

Stacy Hurst, the newly named secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, on Wednesday unveiled the latest economic report on how the tourism and hospitality industry fared in 2018.

Overall travel expenditures rose 4.4% from 2017 to 2018 with visitors spending $7.37 billion in Arkansas during the year. Hurst, who delivered her remarks at the Arkansas Hospitality Association’s annual convention in Little Rock, said the Natural State saw more than 32 million visitors last year.

One of North Little Rock's most famous landmarks is being renovated. If all goes as planned at the Old Mill, water will flow over a 50-foot rock wall for the first time in over 70 years. Sandra Taylor Smith, director of the North Little Rock History Commission, hopes the new waterfall will help make the tourist attraction even more appealing.

"The big pond between where the waterfall is coming and the mill building sometimes would get very stagnant, so we were looking at solutions to try to keep that water moving and not be so stagnant," she said.

Two major tourist attractions in Little Rock are at least partly closed becuase of the partial shutdown of the federal government.

The Clinton Presidential Center said Saturday that temporary and permanent exhibits at the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum will be closed. A statement on the library and museum's website says National Archives facilities are closed due to the shutdown and websites are not being monitored or updated.

The center is located in Little Rock and is a top tourist attraction for Arkansas' capital city.

A bench now on display across from Little Rock’s Central High School commemorates one key moment from the school’s desegregation. It is a replica of one Elizabeth Eckford of the Little Rock Nine sat on in 1957 after being kept from entering the school by national guardsmen.

Tuesday’s unveiling coincided with the 61st anniversary of the event.

Central High School’s Memory Project aims to encourage students to remember past events of the high school and to keep the memory of the Civil Rights Movement alive.

Making Little Rock a leader in technology is the goal of a new project in the downtown area, the city's mayor announced Monday.

Little Rock's first "digital citizen engagement" kiosk is now active outside the Statehouse Convention Center. In addition to being a wi-fi hotspot, the touch-screen kiosk allows passersby to preview area businesses and events, get directions, and take selfie photographs that are sent to their phones.

A trio of camels is now residing at the Little Rock Zoo. The one-humped dromedaries are on the younger side, at one-and-a-half years old. Susan Altrui says their arrival is part of a regular Spring swap.

“They came to us from a farm out of Oklahoma. We are borrowing them for the season and they are just adorable. Their names are June, Sally, and Stella. They’re just about one years old so they’ll be growing up with us here at the Little Rock Zoo and we’re thrilled to have them,” said Altrui. 

Little Rock Central High School is now joining five other sites across the city as part of a national project highlighting historically significant locations in the civil rights era.

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail includes over 100 museums, churches, and other landmarks across 14 states and Washington, D.C. that played a role in the struggle for equal rights for African-Americans in the 1950s and 60s.

There’s a new superintendent at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. Josh Jeffers was named to the post on Monday, which administers more than 2,300 acres of wetlands, prairies, forests, and of course – Pinnacle Mountain. Jeffers says he intends to focus his energies on attracting youth from diverse backgrounds in Little Rock schools.

A sunken ship may turn into a tourist site in eastern Arkansas. A paddle wheel steamboat called the Sultana caught fire in 1865, just days after the end of the Civil War. Over 1,200 Union soldiers died, making it the biggest maritime disaster in U.S. history.

The ship's wreckage currently rests underneath a soybean field in Marion where the Mississippi River once ran. Project Director Louis Intres tells KATV-TV that plans are in progress to build a 10,000-square-foot, $3 million Sultana Disaster Museum.

The cause of the fire that destroyed an iconic, 100-year old Cotham's Restaurant has been left undetermined, with investigators closing the case. The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday there were "no signs of arson" and that all leads had been followed. Officials say the case is closed unless "further information is developed."

Following two years of interviews for the job, Governor Asa Hutchinson appointed Stan Jones to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Tuesday. Jones, a fifth-generation farmer and hunting lodge owner from Walnut Ridge, applauded previous efforts by the commission to promote the outdoors in Arkansas.

“I know we’ve got some difficult situations and issues that we’re going to have to face, but I’ve got a very positive look and attitude on everything, the Game & Fish [Commission] has done a good job, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” Jones said.

The state is poised to hand over control of the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame to the city of Pine Bluff. A bill passed in the Arkansas House on Friday would transfer the operation from the state Department of Parks and Tourism to the city’s Advertising and Tourist Promotion Commission.

Update: The Department of Parks and Tourism provided KUAR with attendance figures for the Hall of Fame. It reveals a dramatic decline in recent years.

2017 – To date 2,675

2016 – 5,793

2015 – 7,125

2014 – 16,932

2013 – 21,102

Gov. Asa Hutchinson kicked off the annual Arkansas Hospitality Convention in Little Rock on Wednesday  by touting the impact the fast-growing tourism industry is having on the state's overall economic expansion.

Citing a recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report designating Arkansas as the nation’s economic leader during the first quarter, Hutchinson told convention-goers gathered at the Statehouse Convention Center that the tourism sector has also play a key role in recent job growth and low unemployment levels.

Almost 20,000 marshal-arts aficionados in their brightly colored uniforms have once again descended on downtown Little Rock for the 26th annual American Taekwondo Association World Expo. 

Jenny O'Conner of ATA International estimates up to 20 nations are represented at the organization's biggest event of the year, which includes the crowning of champions for the just concluded competition year and the opening competitions of the new year.

As Arkansas motorists count down the days to the Memorial Day weekend and the beginning of the summer driving season, pump prices are peaking at their highest level so far in 2016.

Arkansas's second-largest industry continues to grow and become even stronger. That according to state leaders meeting at the annual Governor's Conference on Tourism.

The state's tourism revenue grew 7.7% last year.

According to the state Department of Parks and Tourism, 28 million visitors spent around $7.2 billion, and the Department says it predicts even better numbers for this year.

Spring cleaning isn’t just for our homes. March first is the beginning of the three-month Great Arkansas Cleanup, when volunteers will shake out the rugs for out-of-state visitors.

“It is absolutely essential for tourists to get a good impression of Arkansas when they come to visit,” said Liz Philpott, volunteer program manager for Keep Arkansas Beautiful, which is part of the state Department of Parks and Tourism.

A new operator has been selected for the Hot Springs Mountain Tower.

The Sentinel-Record reports that Ortega National Park LLC of Santa Fe, New Mexico, will operate the tower through a subsidiary.

This will be the first time that the observation tower won't be operated by the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission.

Sandy Poole with the National Park Service's Midwest Regional Office says the transition of operations from the commission to Ortega will happen over the next few months and may be completed in early March.