As COVID-19 vaccinations increase and virus cases decrease, Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison delivered an especially positive message about the future of the city to Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club on Wednesday.
"Aren't we lucky to live in Hot Springs National Park?" Arrison began. "The word from today's going to be positive, OK?"
Before delving into his "somewhat" prepared remarks, he said cheekily at the beginning, Arrison told the room full of people enjoying a meal in the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa that gatherings are becoming more frequent, and he predicts Hot Springs to have a record-breaking summer. The record-breaking hospitality tax collections in March, which exceeded pre-pandemic March 2019's tax collections by almost 10%, are an indicator of this.
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"I'm not looking back, I don't care what happened last year; that's over," Arrison said. "The future is so, so bright for our community."
With attractions like the growing Northwoods Trails system and the soon-to-be-completed Majestic Park baseball complex, a variety of visitors are coming back to the Spa.
"Let's look at the Northwoods," Arrison said. "It's incredible what's going on out there, and it's a big draw to our community. People want to be outdoors -- they want to go out for a walk, they want to hike, they want to get out of Dallas and Memphis and those big cities around us, so they come here."
Majestic Park, the five-field youth baseball complex expected to open in September, will bring sports tourism business the city didn't have before.
"This (Majestic Park) already has every weekend next year, March through the end of baseball season, all of them are booked for traveling tournaments, except for Mother's Day and I think Easter," he said. "So that's been very well accepted already."
In a long list of upcoming events to bring even more tourism to Hot Springs, Arrison mentioned the following:
• There will be three fireworks shows on the lake, on May 30, July 4 and Sept. 6.
• The Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs will return June 5 to downtown Hot Springs.
• Bridge Street Live will be every Thursday in June in the downtown entertainment district. There will be live music from reggae to funk at this block-party-style event.
• The Spa City Classic Pickleball Tournament will be July 16 and 17.
• The Fourth Annual Baseball Weekend, featuring baseball legends Andre Dawson, Goose Gossage, Al Hrabosky and Jim Edmonds, will be Aug. 27 and 28.
• The Hot Springs Blues & Jazz Weekend will be Sept. 3 and 4.
• The 30th Annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival will be Oct. 8-16.
• The Gudrun Mountain Bike Festival will be in the Northwoods Nov. 12-14.
Looking ahead to next year, after skipping two consecutive years, the annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade held on Bridge Street is expected to return March 17, 2022.
Additionally, with Southern Airways Express adding Memphis as a nonstop connecting hub in June, air service will be increased for people wanting to come to Hot Springs for weekend trips to enjoy any of these things the city has to offer.
"Our community is on fire," Arrison said. "We've got to keep the roll going, and y'all are the most important people as the citizens of Hot Springs."
He called upon the community to be Hot Springs' "salespeople" and market their home to everyone to bring even more tourism in the coming months.