Travel publication to market El Dorado throughout Arkansas
The next issue of the El Dorado Insider will feature “50 Things to Do in El Dorado.”
The second-quarter edition of the 2020 Insider, the city’s travel and tourism relocation publication, will include 84 pages that will highlight spring and summer activities and events for visitors and local residents.
Though circumstances have changed in the two weeks since Don Hale, president and owner of the Diamond Agency, delivered the agency report to the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission, the information underscored the importance of ongoing efforts to market and promote El Dorado.
In the past, local officials have acknowledged that while El Dorado may not become a major tourism draw, the city can create promotional campaigns that target certain markets in the region, including people who are looking for weekend events and getaways and day-trippers.
Hale told members of the A&P commission March 10 that the Insider staff piggy-backed off a story that was featured in a national publication and highlighted “50 Things to do in the South.”
Initially, the piece in the upcoming Insider edition was going to spotlight 25 local, spring and summer events and activities but the number was upped to 50 after staff members considered 2020 programs and schedules that have been announced by the Murphy Arts District, Main Street El Dorado, South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and other organizations and individuals in El Dorado, Hale said.
The spread of the coronavirus has forced the postponement or cancellation of several local events, including events that had been planned by MAD and Main Street.
The spring/summer edition of the Insider was to have gone to print March 19 and is expected to be available early next month, with more than 5,000 copies distributed to Arkansas Welcome Centers that feed the El Dorado market, including Texarkana and Lake Village.
“We’ll test Blytheville. We’ll test Bentonville and we’ll test some others to see how well the publication does,” Hale said.
“But, basically, what you’re doing is putting an 84-page travel guide in all the Welcome Centers around the state and I think we’re going to see this pay dividends, especially when you see the eclectic number of things we have to offer here in south Arkansas,” he continued.
He also said the Diamond Agency, the A&P’s ad agency of record, is working with the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce to update the city’s website, www.goeldorado.com.
Mayor Veronica SmithCreer’s office, the El Dorado Conference Center, MAD, Murphy USA and Marketing Alliance, which hosts the Go El Dorado website, are part of the initiative and will review proposals for updates, Hale told commissioners.
“(We want) to make sure we are on the cutting edge of technology and to make sure the things that we are promoting are also the things that you see going on here in El Dorado,” he said.
A quarter-page ad promoting entertainment in El Dorado was included earlier this month in Arkansas Business’ annual spotlight on the state’s travel and hospitality industry.
The feature typically coincides with the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism, which was held March 1 - 3 in Fort Smith, during which the Diamond Agency successfully bid on $1,430 worth of advertising in Texas Monthly and Louisiana Life publications, Hale said.
The A&P commission had authorized the Diamond Agency to bid up to $3,000 for magazine ads during the auction.
Hale said buzz abounded during the conference about local events and the marketing and promotion of those events.
“People were applauding what was going on in
El Dorado. So don’t think that it’s not being noticed, regionally, but certainly throughout the state,” he said.
He also called attention to a tax collection report for local A&P commissions that was included in the Arkansas Business publication.
Of the 13 Arkansas cities that appeared on the list, El Dorado ranked last in total A&P tax collections for 2019.
Revenue for the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission is generated by a 3 percent lodging tax.
Hale pointed out that El Dorado is one of three cities on the list that does have a restaurant tax.
“I think you can see in many cases, the restaurant tax outpaces hotel collections almost two to one, adding valuable resources to those communities’ ability to not only promote themselves but to be a true destination when it comes to advertising, marketing and being a player statewide,” he said, adding, “So that’s just food for thought.”
Pam Griffin, president and chief operating officer of MAD, agreed that while El Dorado receives positive feedback at statewide events, such as the Governor’s Conference on Tourism, she also periodically hears from Arkansans and people in north Louisiana who do not know much about El Dorado.
“When we do announcements like the (Snoop Dog) show and hear (from) people that are in other communities in other communities in Arkansas who say, ‘El Dorado? Where is that?’” she said.
Griffin was referring to an April 25 concert featuring the iconic rapper and legendary rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony in the MAD Amphitheater.
“And so I think that getting that word out about the fact that we are a town in south Arkansas and that we aren’t a whole ‘nother state away from Monroe (Louisiana) and that we’re really only an hour and 20 minutes’ drive and that telling the world who we are and where we are is becoming more and more critical because there still are people out there that have no idea that El Dorado even exists,” Griffin said.
“That’s our job as a community to tell them and not be upset when they don’t know,” she said.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, MAD has canceled several shows that were slated for this month and closed or limited public access to some facilities, including the Griffin Restaurant and the MAD Playscape.
The Snoop and BTNH show is still on the MAD calendar and Griffin said tickets have been selling well and are still available.
Before the AstroZone interactive art exhibit was closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, Griffin reported that nearly 6,000 people from Union County, Little Rock and Ruston, Louisiana, had visited the exhibit.
She said said that half of 6,000 local students had visited AstroZone with their schools and returned on the weekends and after-school hours with their families.
Griffin said the Griffin Restaurant has experienced a boost in traffic during lunch hours on Saturday because of the exhibit, which opened Feb. 1 and had originally been scheduled to close April 4.
MAD has also experienced a 500 percent increase in memberships during the first quarter of 2020, Griffin reported.
Benefits for MAD members include access to pre-sale tickets, VIP areas and designated entrances and discounts.
She said MAD typically sees a bump in membership sales when a major show is announced.