Tourism steady in state, despite high gas prices

LITTLE ROCK As the daylight hours shorten and the summer travel season winds down, Arkansas tourism officials say early indications are that business was steady despite rising gas prices and a falling economy.

"I don't think it's been spectacular, but it's been solid," said Joe David Rice, tourism director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. "We think the high gas prices may actually work in our favor."

At campgrounds, resorts, state parks and attractions of all kinds statewide, officials report that many license plates in the parking lots are from Arkansas and surrounding states. Visitors from Texas, for example, might normally have vacationed in Florida, but decided to stay closer to home because of the cost of gas, Rice said.

"People wanted to spend money at their destination, not in their gas tank getting to the destination," said Steve Arrison, director of the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.

That benefited Hot Springs, which is easily accessible for travelers in nearby major metropolitan areas like Dallas and Memphis, Arrison said.

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Mike Mills, owner of the Buffalo Outdoor Center in Ponca, said gas prices worked in his favor, too.

"I can't wait 'til gas gets to be $5 a gallon," he said. "Seemingly the worse the economy and the higher the gas prices are, the better my business does."

Mills said he's had the best canoe season in his 35 years in the business, and he's likely to have his best year overall.

Those in the tourism industry around Arkansas all agree - Americans are going to take a vacation no matter what.

"It seems to be sort of in the genetic makeup of Americans that they have a right and an expectation to travel," Rice said.

Some say Arkansans who usually would have ventured outside the state for a vacation took the high gas prices as an opportunity to see and experience parts of Arkansas they never had explored.

But Mills said he still had visitors from as far away as Houston, New Orleans and St. Louis.

"A family from Longview, Texas, has a choice," Mills said. "If they want to go to the mountains, they go to Arkansas or Colorado. Well, Colorado is a lot more expensive than Arkansas."

Although it seems most Americans continued to travel despite gas prices, there's some indication they tried to save money while on trips.

"I don't think people had the discretionary income," Arrison said. "They didn't seem to be buying as much in our gift shops as normal."

The Convention and Visitors Bureau operates the Hot Springs Mountain Tower.

But Mills said people were buying more merchandise than they have in the past three years.

"I think that the T-shirts and hats are souvenirs that people buy when times are tough because they can continue to use them," unlike trinkets and art, Mills said. "People want to show where they've been."

In Eureka Springs, however, travelers were still spending on fine dining, spa visits and art, according to Jack Moyer, vice president of operations and development for both the 1886 Crescent Hotel and the Basin Park Hotel.

"I think where we're seeing a pull back is in family attractions and mid-week travel," Moyer said. "Those are typically seniors and families. That makes perfect sense because the individuals who are really getting hit with food and fuel prices are seniors and families."

It will be a few months before officials know better how this year's summer travel and tourism compared to last year's. The chief barometer is the 2 percent statewide tourism tax charged on campgrounds, lodging, marina rentals and tourist attraction admission fees. Numbers are reported 60 days later.

In May, tourism tax collections were up 1.4 percent compared to May 2007, according to Rice.

Jared Lindsey, manager of Lindsey's Rainbow Resort in Heber Springs, estimated revenues are down 2 percent this summer, but he thinks higher gas prices will have positive long-term effects.

"I think it's a good thing," Lindsey said. "We probably reconnected with maybe some people that were doing other things, going other places, vacationing out of state."