Common ground

Tourism connects, inspires us

Earlier this year, I stood before the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission and proudly said that annual collections from the city’s hotel, motel and restaurant tax had increased for the seventh consecutive year.

It was the result of a year full of hard work by the amazing people in our city’s hospitality community. They love our city and relish the opportunity to invite the world to Fayetteville and help shape their experiences.

Now, two months later, the hospitality industry, like nearly every business sector, is struggling with unprecedented challenges.

Hotels are mostly empty. Restaurants and breweries have had to close dining areas and rely on pickup or delivery services. Many businesses have had to make the painful decision to lay off workers or even stop business altogether.

How do you help flatten the curve when your job is to encourage people to travel and gather together at restaurants, bars and entertainment venues?

You adapt. You carry on as best as possible and do everything in your power to help, because all of those local businesses that make your city a unique travel destination need help — now more than ever.

At Experience Fayetteville, the first thing we did was take on a new mission and start coming up with ways to leverage our assets and relationships to help local businesses.

Our website and social media channels, which we already use to showcase Fayetteville restaurants to visitors, are being used to promote takeout and delivery. Overnight, our target audience went from in- and outof-state travelers to our own residents. “Spend a little, help a lot” is what we are asking our neighbors to do.

We also have been gathering and sharing helpful relief information for hospitality workers affected by the pandemic, as well as useful information for our community partners, like small-business loans and webinars.

The outpouring of support in Northwest Arkansas for our hospitality industry has been nothing short of inspiring. In Fayetteville, its members and the community at large have banded together and rallied to help those struggling.

A great example is Feed the Herd, a program spearheaded by restaurant owners Ben Gitchel and Hannah Withers. The week their restaurant closed, they decided to not let good food go bad, but instead use it to feed their 24 employees to-go meals twice a week. Now, because of continued donations of food and funds, the program

Ahas grown. Any bar or restaurant employee facing hardship during this time can sign up to receive a meal, twice a week.

Roots Feeds Musicians, a similar endeavor by the Fayetteville Roots Festival and partners, distributes quick-cook meals twice a week to members of the music community affected by cancellations and lost income. Local restaurants have formed the Fayetteville Independent Restaurant Association and collected donations to provide direct assistance to restaurant workers to cover rent, utilities, transportation, and groceries.

s a lifelong Arkansan, I am proud to witness examples across our state of the truest sense of neighborly love in the face of adversity — giving and dedication by so many who share a purpose of preserving the backbone of our community and preventing our friends from falling. And I am reminded again why I choose Fayetteville as my family’s home.

I am proud to serve on Mayor Lioneld Jordan’s Small Business Resiliency Task Force made up of local business owners from the hospitality, banking and retail sectors. We both know how important hospitality is to Fayetteville. The city sees $326 million in sales annually from the hospitality sector, including bars, restaurants and lodging.

Tourism is not just about travel. It is about experiences and allowing ourselves to be changed by them. Meeting new people. Discovering different customs. Listening to different points of view. Learning from each other.

These can still take place in a “new normal,” but we have to continue to be smart and vigilant. Our concern will always be the safety and health of our public. Without them, there is no tourism.

Until this chapter is behind us, we will continue to do all that we can, for as long as we can, to help as many as we can. We are dedicated to helping as much as possible, however possible.

When it is over, not only will Fayetteville be waiting with open arms to greet travelers from near and far, the Natural State will be ready to remind the world about its outdoor beauty, cultural gems and unforgettable hospitality.

And we cannot wait to see you at the after-party on Dickson Street.