Arkansas Tourism Tax Up More Than 5% In First Four Months Of 2019

LITTLE ROCK (TB&P) — January-April hospitality tax collections among 17 cities surveyed for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker were up 3.9% compared with the same period in 2018, and the state’s 2% tourism tax revenue posted healthy growth of 5.2% in the four-month period.

Numbers from the first four months of 2019 are up against broad gains in 2018.

Collections of Arkansas’ 2% tourism set a new record in 2018 and hospitality tax collections among 17 Arkansas cities surveyed for the Arkansas Tourism ticker topped the $50 million mark in 2018. The year marked the fourth consecutive year of growth as measured by the Arkansas Tourism Ticker.

The Arkansas Tourism Ticker is managed by Talk Business & Politics, and sponsored by the Arkansas Hospitality Association. The ticker uses the following three measurements to review the health of the state’s tourism industry:

• Hospitality tax collections – prepared food tax and lodging tax – of 17 Arkansas cities;
• Tourism sector employment numbers as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; and
• Collections of Arkansas’ 2% statewide tourism tax.

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