Use of Hot Springs Convention Center increases

HOT SPRINGS — Hot Springs Convention Center is “starting to come back,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said following the release of the facility’s usage numbers for 2023.

While numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, Arrison said he is pleased with where things are so far.

“We’re pleased with it,” he said. “Our revenues are way up, which is good. It’s a very good thing.”

In 2023, the convention center hosted 246 events for a total of 537 “event days,” a more than 10% increase from 2022, which saw 223 events and 478 event days.

“If you have an event, say the Arkansas Bar Association, in for four days, it would count as one event for the month but be four event days,” Arrison said. “If we had a graduation that just used the space for one day, it would be one event and just one event day.”

The convention center has had a consistent increase in events since 2020’s low of 97 (194 event days), which was more than a 65% decrease from 2019 due to the cancellation of all events from March 12 through mid-July. There was a 56.7% increase in the number of events (152) in 2021 and a 53.6% increase in event days (298), but 2022 saw the largest single increase in event days (180) to 478, a jump of 60.4%, while adding 71 events, a 45.7% increase.

There were 298 events in 2018, the highest tally since 2015, but that year was third in event days with 2016 (665) and 2015 (618) leading the statistic category. While events and event days are up, attendance has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, but that does not concern Arrison.

“If you look at state basketball, if we had a year with a fishing tournament — the FLW Cup, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “The arena numbers throw that off a lot, so what I look at is the number of events and the number of event days, which is more important. If you have an event for one day but you can have a convention that’s a four-day event, so event days to me is more important — event days and revenue.”

From 2015 to 2019, attendance at events was well over 350,000, maxing out in 2019 with 449,918 people in attendance.

“In years where we had huge attendance, you can see we had the fishing tournament, the FLW Cup, where they gave a million dollars to the first prize winner, or you look at (2016) where we had state basketball and Malik Monk, standing room only every time they played,” Arrison said.