LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Tourism in central Arkansas has shown encouraging signs as thousands of visitors have started arriving in Little Rock every weekend.
As the pandemic becomes a thing of the past, cities around the nation, including Little Rock, are focused on getting back to some normalcy in terms of having visitors out and about.
President and CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitor's Bureau (LRCVB), Gina Gemberling, stated that pre-pandemic normalcy isn't far off.
"Here in Little Rock, we are a well-rounded tourism product," she said.
In 2021, Pulaski County reaped the benefits of its tourism industry, with LRCVB reporting total travel spending from that year amounted to $1.7 billion.
According to Gemberling, 2022 wasn't a bad year for the city either.
“Little Rock has come back very strong,” Gemberling explained. “We had a pretty good 2022, although we were not quite up to those 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.”
In 2023, the city's tourism is hoping to turn a new page, as Gemberling expects the city of Little Rock to see numbers similar to or even better than before the pandemic.
“We are trending year-to-date that we are going to surpass 2019,” she said. “Quite honestly, 2019 was a record year for tourism in Little Rock, we just hope we can keep that momentum going.”
The LRCVB gauges its success through the city's hotel occupancy.
“Right now, our hotel occupancy is trending higher than pre-pandemic time,” Gemberling explained. “So, we're just hoping to keep that up through the rest of the year.”
Places such as the Statehouse Convention Center, the Robinson Center, and the capital city's newest attraction, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, have each played a role in the city's travel success.
While Gemberling expects a good year, she added that the capital city's hospitality industry, which goes hand in hand with travel, needs more people.
“Not just in Little Rock, but nationwide, the hospitality industry lost a lot of good, talented folks,” Gemberling described. “Little Rock is trying to rebuild that hospitality workforce and we continue to look for talented industry people.”
Gemberling added that making it out from the effects of the pandemic hasn’t been an easy task, but believes their choice to not freeze efforts due to budgeting issues has played a large role in the city’s tourism industry success.