Mobile visitors center will tout LR
Bureau message put onto wheels
Officials on Thursday unveiled a van that will serve as a “mobile visitors center” of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The Ford, emblazoned with the city’s “Big on Little Rock” marketing slogan, features a television that pops out from the back and a window where pedestrians will be able to grab pamphlets or presumably speak to someone inside the vehicle.
The introduction of the new mobile visitors center took place outside the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
According to visitors bureau spokesperson Jeff Chastain, the total cost for the van was $141,628.
Prior to the unveiling, Jim Keet, the chair of the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission, called it “another tool in our arsenal to achieve our mission to showcase Little Rock as a vibrant destination — rich in culture, history and opportunities.”
The vehicle will help attract visitors and support local businesses, Keet predicted. He expressed his appreciation for Gina Gemberling, the president and chief executive officer of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as the rest of its staff.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. described the visitors bureau’s staff and the members of the Advertising and Promotion Commission as “critical to the city’s growth, the quality of life and place as we continue to move as a thriving city, not only in the state of Arkansas, but in the South of these United States of America.”
The city boasts many “anchoring institutions,” Scott said, such as the Little Rock Central High School
National Historic Site and the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.
In addition to other investments, a downtown “resurgence” will be bolstered by the return of the downtown ambassador program and the development of a downtown master plan, Scott suggested.
Adam Berrios, the visitors bureau’s vice president of sales and services, said the origins of the project date back to 2022.
Officials think the van “will not only allow the [visitors bureau] to showcase Little Rock to a broader audience, but will also allow us to help to raise the community’s awareness” of tourism’s effects on the city, Berrios said.
They want it “to be a catalyst for local pride as well,” Berrios said. “It’s not just here to serve visitors.”
The van will be used for data-gathering purposes whether stationed in Little Rock or other cities to help the visitors bureau develop its marketing efforts, according to Berrios.
For her part, Gemberling said the initiative “marks a tremendous step forward in our mission to showcase Little Rock as a premier destination.”