The recent Arkansas Municipal League conference at the Fort Smith Convention Center had an estimated economic impact of $439,000 on the city, according to the Fort Smith Advertising and Promotions Commission.
Claude Legris, Fort Smith A&P executive director, provided the figure at the commission’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday. Convention attendees used 982 hotel “room nights” during the three-day convention Jan. 10-12. There are about 2,000 “convention quality” hotel rooms in the city, Legris added. One room for one night is one “room night.”
“Some people who came to the convention have lived in Arkansas their whole lives and never been to Fort Smith,” Legris said. “For others, they had not been here in many years.”
The convention center annually comes under fire for its use of about $770,000 in general funds to underwrite operations. Legris provides reports that show the convention center has had an estimated economic impact on the city of $17 million in 2014, $28 million in 2015, $14.6 million in 2016 and $7.7 million in 2017.
According to the Fort Smith A&P’s latest financial report for the month of November, the convention center’s year-to-date invoiced revenue is $607,191, a 1.7 percent increase, or about $10,129, over the same period last year. Invoiced revenue does not include concessions. Total revenue for the convention center in 2017 by the end of November was $682,137, an increase of about $5,000.
The convention center’s year-to-date expenses by the end of November were $1,308,636.
Tim Seeberg, director of the Fort Smith Convention Center, noted to commissioners in his financial report Tuesday that about $55,000 of the $121,555 increase in expenses for 2017 were budgeted building repairs. About $25,000 of the increase was due to increased part-time labor for events, Seeberg explained. Another $40,000 to $50,000 was increased electricity costs during a dialectric union replacement project, and use of a larger air conditioner when the smaller unit was damaged.
With $65,198 in revenue from a 3 percent lodging tax, the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau saw a slower November this year. The tax raised about $9,000 less in revenue than November 2016. The tax funds the CVB’s operations to promote the city. Year-to-date revenue by the end of November was $800,328 with expenses of $682,588. December’s revenue is expected to be under 2016 numbers, Legris added.
“This year is looking better already,” Legris said.