Travel on hold
Tourism can recover from covid-19
When I first joined the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau (LRCVB) as an event coordinator in November of 2001, the tourism industry was still reeling from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, an event that cost our industry billions in economic activity on the national scale.
Now, almost 19 years later, as I take the mantle of Board Chair-Elect of Destinations International, our industry’s most prominent trade organization, the tourism industry is again facing near cataclysmic losses in the face of the covid-19 pandemic. Current economic projections show a national decline in travel spending of $505 billion, representing $1.2 trillion in economic loss—an amount nine times what the travel industry endured in 2001.
As Arkansas’ second largest industry, tourism has been hard hit by the catastrophic economic effects of this health crisis. Prior to covid-19, domestic and international travelers to the state spent $7.4 billion in travel-related expenditures that generated more than 68,000 tourism-related jobs. Pulaski County accounted for nearly 25 percent of the total travel expenditures with $1.8 billion, and 20 percent of the work force with almost 14,000 dedicated employees.
Now we see a much different picture—one that changes daily. Since the pandemic began, Little Rock has experienced as much as a 67 percent decline in citywide hotel occupancy, and a collective 60 percent loss in hotel revenue. In a recent Oxford Economic report, it notes that Arkansas tax revenue generated from hotel operations alone will decline by $60.8 million this year. Both hotel and restaurant operators have been forced to lay off staff or reduce employee hours.
On the meetings and conventions side, Little Rock has lost over 300 events in 2020, resulting in a loss of $35 million in direct travel expenditures. Airport arrivals have decreased significantly, virtually every annual festival has been canceled, and our cultural attractions have also felt the impact of these losses. All of this equates to millions of dollars in local and state tax revenue lost and crippling unemployment rates for hospitality workers.
Before the pandemic, tourism was one of the fastest-growing industries both around the world and here at home, but the difficult reality is the travel industry has been devastated economically due to the effects of this virus, and it will be one of the last to recover. Tourism must be at the forefront of our local, state and national post-pandemic recovery plans. Destinations International (DI) will play an instrumental role in providing thought leadership, best practices and necessary tools to reshape the travel and tourism industry in the wake of covid-19.
In my years of experience with DI, I’ve seen firsthand how the organization has been a leader and an advocate for destinations worldwide. As Board Chair-Elect, I’m honored to put Little Rock on that international stage. With the backing of DI’s advocacy efforts and development of resources and ideas, I can better support those in our city and state who are hurting today as we work together to rebuild our tourism infrastructure into an industry that is stronger than ever before.
Just like in other economic sectors impacted by the pandemic, tourism’s recovery will be long and measured, but even now, as we collectively spend a summer at home, research shows that we are all longing to travel again.
Our national desire to get out and explore our world hasn’t been diminished by this pandemic and, as we slowly begin to travel again, it’s important that we support our local tourism businesses first. We must continue to support our restaurants, hotels, attractions and cultural institutions as they are vital members of our community and quality of life.
Perhaps most important, as we rebuild our tourism economy, we can reshape it into a more welcoming and equitable space. With DI’s equity, diversity and inclusion task force, I hope to ensure that the tourism industry that emerges from this pandemic is one that is truly welcoming to all. Diversity in our advertisements and promotional materials isn’t enough. We, both as the LRCVB and as an industry, must work to dismantle the structures of unconscious bias and inequalities.
Diversity and inclusion make us more innovative, more competitive and more appealing—both as a visitor destination and as a place to live and do business. Little Rock’s cultural landscape was forged in the epicenter of the Civil Rights Era. Coming out of the pandemic, we’ll be uniquely positioned to build a new, diverse, efficient and profitable hospitality industry.
In the same way that the crisis of 1957 was a catalyst for change, years from now I hope we will see the pandemic of 2020 as the moment a new vision for Little Rock as a stronger, bolder and brighter city took hold.