Tourism Conference moves to Hot Springs

News-Times
News-Times

For the first time in more than four decades, El Dorado was set to host the annual Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Now, the city will have to wait a little longer for the opportunity.

El Dorado was to serve as the host city for the 42nd annual conference in March.

But due to unforeseen circumstances regarding the number of local hotel rooms that would be available during the conference, the event has been moved to Hot Springs and the schedule changed from March 3 - 5 to Feb. 24 - 26.

Jim Dailey — director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, who hosts the conference — made the announcement Thursday.

In an email, Dailey said the Arkansas State Parks, Travel and Recreation Commission had selected Hot Springs as the new site for the 2019 conference.

The announcement came nearly two weeks after Dailey notified tourism entities across the state that the planning team for the Governor’s Conference had “reached the difficult decision” to relocate the event.

“… the quantity of rooms needed to host the event is no longer available …The community of El Dorado has been wonderful to work with during our initial planning for the conference,” Dailey wrote.

“They are just as disappointed as we are that Governor’s Conference will not take place as originally planned. We look forward to working with El Dorado on an upcoming Governor’s Conference in the years to come,” he continued.

Echoing Dailey’s statements were city officials, representatives from the Murphy Arts District and others who were instrumental in presenting the bid for the 42nd annual conference in 2017.

At the start of the year, civic and community leaders learned that El Dorado was one of two finalists for the bid. Fayetteville was also in the running.

Shortly thereafter, news came that El Dorado had landed the bid.

City officials and other groups, including the MAD, Main Street El Dorado and later, the newly formed Union County Tourism Coalition, began ironing out the details for the conference, including lodging accommodations and transportation.

A new visitors guide, El Dorado Visitors’ Info, was launched last summer and was to have been used as one of the promotional and informational tools for the conference.

The pamphlet is a companion piece for the El Dorado Insider, the city’s quarterly tourism, visitors and newcomers’ guide, condensing information in the El Dorado Insider and serving as a digest item to answers questions that are frequently asked by visitors, she said.

Prior to the publishing of the new guide, a suggestion had been made to the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission for a thinner of the Insider that could be mailed in advance to those who represent the state’s tourism industry and those who were expected to attend the Governor’s Conference

The 16-page pamphlet highlights lodging accommodations, restaurants, local festivals, live shows and more.

Considered to be Arkansas’s premier tourism event, the AGCT celebrates tourism and highlights its impact as one of the top industries in the Natural State.

Between 500 and 700 people attend the conference each year.

Not enough rooms

In August 2017, Mike Dumas, president and chief executive officer of the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce, spread the word about major events that were planned in the city for 2018.

Dumas pointed to MusicFest and large-scale industry maintenance and repair projects that were expected to bring hundreds of visitors to town.

At the time, Dumas said he had been in talks with two local industries that had such projects, commonly known as turnarounds, planned for fall 2018.

Hundreds of out-of-town workers were anticipated in El Dorado for extended stays, and Dumas advised local groups that lodging would be needed.

One of the industries, Lion Oil/Delek El Dorado, postponed its turnaround to January - March 2019, a schedule that would run concurrently with the original dates of the Governor’s Conference.

Dumas and Dianne Hammond — a member of the El Dorado City Council who worked with MAD to present the El Dorado bid for the Governor’s Conference to state officials — said the maximum capacity of hotel rooms in El Dorado — 650 — would not accommodate visitors for the conference and industry contract workers.

Dumas said the Lion Oil/Delek turnaround, which is expected to bring up to 2,500 workers to El Dorado between January and March, was delayed due to the availability and delivery of equipment and other issues.

“When you have a conference, you want to block out rooms for the folks who are coming to the conference, 500 to 700,” Dumas said.

“The (local) hotel owners said, ‘If we block those rooms now, we would have to move people out who will be renting from us for six weeks,’” Dumas explained.

Added Hammond, “The motels weren’t willing to block off rooms for three days when you’re going to have people here for three months.”

She said she spoke to Dailey about changing the date of the conference, but the Arkansas Parks, Travel and Recreation Commission wanted to keep the March dates.

Another request to switch El Dorado with the 2020 host city was also declined, Hammond said.

Dailey said the APTRC explored several alternatives for relocating the conference before settling on the Feb. 24 - 26 dates.

” … our final selection represented the only truly viable option,” Dailey said, noting that the new schedule conflicts with the annual Travel South USA Domestic Showcase, another annual event that will be held Feb. 24 - 27 in North Carolina.

The ADPT is a member of Travel South.

“El Dorado was just not ready for the Governor’s Conference. We would love to have them, and we were happy they selected us, but we’re just not ready,” Dumas said.

Hammond and Dumas said tourism professionals and officials from across the state were looking forward to convening in El Dorado next year.

El Dorado is eligible to bid again in three years, Hammond said, explaining that host cities are lined out three years in advance.

“We’re very disappointed, but I understand. We had numerous meetings with tourism groups to iron out the details. The only thing that was pending was the blocking of the rooms,” she said.

Referring to the ADPT, Hammond said, “They were just as excited as we were.”

Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at [email protected].

CORRECTION

This article has been edited to correct the headline, which erroneously listed the wrong city as being selected for the conference.

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