The Arkansas Tourism Ticker reports the recent changes to the tourism industry in the state. The 2020 Tourism Ticker noted significant losses across the state and region, but also surprising growth as well.

• The Ticker saw an 18% decrease in hospitality tax revenue in January-December 2020 among 17 Arkansas cities compared to 2019. There was a 22.7% tax decrease in collections of Arkansas’ 2% statewide tourism tax. Arkansas tourism industry jobs also saw a 14.35% decline across the state in 2020 compared to 2019.

• Benton and Washington Counties took some of the biggest hits on the 2% tourism
  tax collections in January-December 2020. Benton County collected $1.3 million,
  down 47%, and Washington County collected $880,467,
  down 42.5% from 2019.

• With Arkansas travel and tourism average monthly jobs down more than 14%, NWA saw a decline as well. For January-December 2020, NWA averaged 24,750 monthly jobs, down 4.8% from 2019.

• The good stuff: In 2020, The City of Fayetteville was the first U.S. city to be named a "Bike City" by the Union Cyclist Internationale; The Arkansas Arts Center has rebranded as the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and announced an expansion of its $128 million capital campaign to
  a new goal of $142 million.

• Find the full report HERE.