Visitors make long weekend out of holiday
Despite Independence Day falling midweek, many visitors turned out and stayed for the weekend, local hospitality leaders said Monday.
The holiday festivities kicked off July 3 with Spa Blast at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort which Jennifer Hoyt, media relations manager, said saw a good turnout.
“It was really, really good. We’re all really happy with how it turned out,” she said.
“I would say the crowd was a little bigger than what we anticipated. It was definitely a late-arriving crowd, probably because of the heat which we understood and expected that. Once Lee Greenwood took the stage, it was wall-to-wall crowds.”
Hoyt said with construction taking place in front of the gaming entrance, Oaklawn officials worked to get the word out to those planning to attend the event about parking and entering through the north lot. That didn’t deter guests or cause issues, she said.
“It was easily between 12,000 and 15,000 people, right up there with one of our largest Spa Blasts,” she said. “Everything went really smooth. Lee Greenwood was really good. He had an excellent draw in 2014 and this year was as good or better. Natalie Stovall was excellent, as well. Both had big fan draws.”
While earlier in the week prior to the holiday there were still several hotel rooms available, local hotel operators reported the Thursday holiday actually helped their business.
“It seemed to be a very busy holiday,” Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, said. “You never know when the holiday falls in the middle of the week what people are going to do, but it seemed like people made a weekend of it.
“I did talk to several hotel operators who said the Thursday actually really helped their business. They had a very strong weekend. It was a very successful Fourth of July weekend, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday and then spilled over into Sunday.”
Arrison said during the annual fireworks display on Lake Hamilton, boaters turned out in droves to watch the light show.
“I don’t know that I’ve seen so many boats on Lake Hamilton for the fireworks,” he said. “Downtown was also very busy. It seems like we had a lot of people there. Hotels were at a premium. There was a little bit of rain this weekend, but not enough to wash anything out.
“Everyone I have talked to this morning said it was a very good weekend.”