Editor’s note: This story is a component of The Compass Report. The quarterly Compass Report is managed by The City Wire and presented by Fort Smith-based Benefit Bank. Other supporting sponsors of The Compass Report are Cox Communications and the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Hospitality tax collections in Fort Smith and Van Buren are down for the first five months of 2013, but employment in the regional tourism sector was up during May.
Collections in Van Buren during the first five months of 2013 total $174,969, a slight decline of 0.77% from the $176,327 in the first quarter of 2012.
May collections were $36,898, down 1.2% from the $37,344 in May 2012. The city collects a 1% tax on lodging and a 1% prepared food tax.
Maryl Koeth, executive director of the Van Buren Advertising & Promotion Commission, said mixed results from hotels and restaurants suggest a trend among travelers.
“Lodging receipts are up slightly from this time last year, however, restaurants are down about one percent. This confirms what I am hearing from other tourism areas. Despite a sluggish economy people are still taking vacations. They are compensating for less disposable income by taking shorter vacations, a little closer to home and spending less on shopping and dining out,” Koeth explained.
During 2012, Van Buren hospitality tax collections totaled $425,554, up 5.2% compared to the 2011 collections. Hospitality tax collections in Van Buren during 2011 totaled $429,561, up 2.34% compared to 2010. The 2011 collections ended a two-year skid in Van Buren.
FORT SMITH
Collections in Fort Smith for the first five months of 2013 totals $302,038, down 2.8% compared to the same period in 2012. The gap is improving, however. The first quarter collections were down more than 6% compared to the 2012 quarter.
May collections were $61,457, down 7.9% compared to May 2012. The city collects a 3% tax on lodging. Part of the decline is attributable to a hotel being late with remittance because of a franchise change, said Claude Legris, executive director of the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Legris said May revenue at the Fort Smith Convention Center was up almost 20% compared to May 2012. However, hotel occupancy in Fort Smith was down 2.7%.
“Early indications for June show another decline in collections because some of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah Witnesses (CCJW) events occurred in June last year and some other convention business last year that did not reoccur in 2013,” Legris explained in an e-mail note. “However the month of July is looking solid since all of the CCJW events have taken place in July and the timing of the AR Sheriff's Association was very good (in between the two CCJW sessions) and the addition of a District AME Church event just after the second CCJW session.”
During 2012, Fort Smith hospitality tax collections totaled $746,182, up 5.37% compared to the 2011 period.
TOURISM EMPLOYMENT, ARKANSAS COLLECTIONS
Employment in the Fort Smith regional tourism industry was 9,300 during May, up from 9,100 in April and more than the 9,200 in May 2012. The sector reached an employment high of 9,800 in August 2008.
Average monthly employment in the Fort Smith metro tourism sector ended a two year decline in 2012. During 2007, 2008 and 2009, the average monthly employment was 9,300. That fell to 8,700 during 2010, 8,500 during 2011, but rose to 9,000 during 2012. The sector reached an employment high of 9,800 in November 2008.
Arkansas’ tourism sector (leisure & hospitality) employed 101,200 during May, down from the 102,300 during April and less than the 102,600 during May 2012. At a revised 103,700, January 2013 marked a new employment high in the sector.
Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax receipts totaled $3.716 million for the first four reporting months of 2013, up 1.4% compared to the $3.663 million during the same period of 2012.
Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax receipts totaled $12.405 million during 2012, up 3.16% compared to the $12.025 million during 2011. The gains marked the third consecutive year of improving tourism tax revenue.