The Murphy Arts District is looking for ways to improve its events and provide a better experience for visitors, and doing that requires open communication and feedback from other local entities, said Bob Tarren, chief marketing officer for MAD.
Tarren responded Tuesday to inquiries that a local hotel owner and member of the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission said he and his staff received from guests who were in town for a Hank Williams Jr. concert.
The country music legend was in town Friday for a performance in the MAD Amphitheater. Country singer-songwriter Pat Green opened for Williams.
Commissioner Sanjay Patel, owner of LaQuinta Inn, said several guests complained about the lack of shuttle service between the hotel and concert venue.
“We had a lot of people asking about that at check-in. We spent all this money to buy a trolley system. Why don’t we use it?” Patel asked, referring to the city’s trolley bus that can be rented for such events.
“One of the complaints we heard were that people were price-gouged on these (paid) parking lots,” Patel added. “We want people to come downtown and have a good time, and we expect to them to drive back to the hotel.”
Feedback that MAD received about available parking was quite the opposite, Tarren said.
He said concert-goers expressed satisfaction with the ease of on-the-street parking and other nearby parking areas, “even if they had to walk a few blocks,” Tarren told commissioners.
He and Patel noted that if price-gouging occurred on paid parking lots that were offered by private groups and individuals, the issue was beyond MAD’s control.
While evaluating MAD’s grand-opening celebration, which took place over several days last fall, Tarren said organizers noted that free shuttle service provided by MAD did not get much use.
Not knowing what to expect during the grand opening, Tarren said MAD learned from the experience and decided against using shuttle service for the Williams show, the first concert to be held in the MAD Amphitheater since the grand opening.
Tarren said the concert drew 4,500 people, “the vast majority” of which came from out of town.
He said Main Street El Dorado is polling downtown merchants to gauge the foot traffic they saw during the show, and he asked A&P commissioners for help in getting a room count from local hotels and motels for Thursday through Saturday.
Patel said LaQuinta saw “better than average” numbers for those dates.
“They said the show was great but the experience was poor,” Patel said.
Tarren told Patel to relay such comments, issues and observations to MAD, noting that MAD includes on its website information about lodging in El Dorado.
“We want to improve the customer experience. We’re still doing evaluations. We’d love to get a better communication line between us and the hotels,” Tarren said. “We want to give a good experience from one end — the hotels, venues entertainment, food — to the other.”
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.