City tourism panel briefed on virus measures

Commission preparing for revenue loss, cutting expenses

FAYETTEVILLE — The city’s commission in charge of hospitality and tourism is preparing for significant revenue losses and cutting expenses where possible in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Commissioners met Monday remotely via the online Zoom app. Experience Fayetteville, the tourism organization the Advertising and Promotion Commission governs, has had to lay off seven parttime workers, furlough two full-time workers and reduce hours for five other full-time employees, Chief Executive Officer Molly Rawn said.

The majority of the organization’s paid media expenses, such as commercials and online advertisements promoting tourism, have been pulled, amounting to about $262,000 saved, Rawn said. First Thursday on the square is canceled for next month. June’s event may move to a virtual format.

The organization should be able to make it through the end of July without having to

make more drastic decisions about payroll, layoffs or potentially selling the historic Walker-Stone House, which it has owned since 2016, Rawn said.

“I am trying to be as conservative as possible,” she said. “I do better when I look at a worst-case scenario.”

The visitors bureau, Town Center and Clinton House Museum all have been closed since March 12. There was $140,000 in lost revenue at the Town Center alone the past two months, Rawn said.

Most of the commission’s revenue comes from half of a 2 percent hotel, motel and restaurant sales tax. The other half goes to parks.

Rawn said she’s preparing for no revenue from that tax for the next two months. She projected collection would slowly start coming back in late summer.

The commission had 30 events this year it was slated to help pay for through its annual grant program. One already happened, but eight have canceled. The other events have either postponed, plan to go on as scheduled or aren’t sure.

Most of the hotels and motels in the city are open, Rawn said. Some hotels are offering daytime accommodations for office space. Gov. Asa Hutchinson banned lodging for recreational travelers coming from outside the state.

Hutchinson also ordered all sit-down service at restaurants and bars to close, with only curbside pickup and delivery options available to restaurants.

There’s a two-month delay on sales tax reports. Rawn said she expected to see this month’s collection, which will represent March’s activity, in early May.

Chairman Matthew Petty, who also serves on the City Council, said he hopes the commission will focus more on helping displaced hospitality and restaurant workers once clearer budget numbers come through. Rawn said she put $2,500 toward initiatives to help feed laid off hospitality and restaurant workers.

The city needs to retain its exceptional workforce, Petty said. The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metropolitan area had more than 23,000 workers in food preparation and serving-related occupations in May 2018, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

“We are going to make it through it, one way or the other,” Petty said. “But one thing we should be especially concerned about as an advertising and promotion commission is how many of those workers will remain in the industry through it?”

Commissioners also received a briefing on the Independent Restaurant Association from Reese Roberts, general manager at Bordinos. Roberts was affirmed earlier in the meeting to fill a vacant seat on the commission left by Ching Mong, who resigned last month.

The association so far has raised $7,800 from online donations for displaced restaurant workers, Roberts said. The goal is to provide a safety net for hospitality employees, who most often do not have savings and live paycheck to paycheck, she said.

Stacy Ryburn can be reached by email at sryburn@nwadg.com or on Twitter @stacyryburn.