Visit Rogers, division of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce, attended the 48^th Annual Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism held in early March in Fayetteville. As the destination marketing division of the Chamber, the Visit Rogers team attended all events and educational sessions, learning best tourism marketing and development practices, while also showing support for the tourism industry in the state and the region.

Keynote Sessions

Conference keynote sessions hit on a wide variety of topics. The opening session, featuring organizational leadership consultant Michelle Shelton, addressed leading organizations through post-pandemic cultural shifts including attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. Jack Johnson, Chief Advocacy Officer for Destinations international, detailed the case for tourism and destination organizations becoming a priority, a public good and a community shared value. The closing session, aptly titled “The Crystal Ball Is Less Cloudy” and presented by Longwoods International CEO Amir Eylon, featured the latest resident sentiment data that informs traveler behavior now and into the future.

Economic Recovery for Restaurants a Hot Topic

Educational sessions and breakouts covered a range of pertinent topics including attracting and retaining a diverse workforce, telling stories that build connection, creating sustainability in tourism development and valuing outdoor recreation as an economic driver. Economic recovery for restaurants was a hot topic. A panel discussed trends and paths for economic recovery in the restaurant industry as operators continue to adapt to challenges ranging from labor to inflation and Covid variants. Takeaways included restaurants having to face decisions whether to close Monday and Tuesday or risk burning out the staff, and the effect rising food costs have on menu price increases for customers.

Best Practices & Content Marketing Trends

Several sessions highlighted best practices in destination marketing. From Instagram Reels to TikTok videos to YouTube Shorts, short-form video is taking over social media. Sessions dug into these channels with tips, tricks, and best practices for destination marketers to take their social channels to new levels. Zeek Coleman, Head of Marketing for Tourism & Hospitality at Adara, helped destination marketers understand how Apple and Google's updates will impact our industry and change the accuracy and availability of data. Miles Partnership representative, Josh Wray, jumped into Google helping DMOs understand how content marketing, SEO, customer relation management, and online listings are vital for any organization in doing business.