$20.6M budget set for visitors bureau

The Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission approved a $20.6 million budget for the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2020 at its regular meeting Tuesday.

The city’s marketing arm anticipates increases in both revenue and expenditures in the coming years. Tax collections on lodging and prepared food are expected to grow by at least 3% each.

The bureau plans to spend $12.3 million on operations expenses. The largest increase comes from an uptick in payroll and benefits spending.

The 2019 budget was heavy on capital expenditures, and the 2020 budget will be the same before those expenses taper off the following year, said Gretchen Hall, the Little Rock bureau’s chief executive officer.

The bureau is primarily funded by a hotel, motel and restaurant tax.