P. Allen Smith urges expanded tourism media engagement; Parks department cites data-driven limits on higher pay

P. Allen Smith, a media producer who runs Moss Mountain Farm and long-running television and digital outlets, told the Senate State Agencies & Governmental Affairs Committee that his work draws national attention and that he proposed an expanded engagement worth about $845,000 a year to promote Arkansas tourism.

Smith said his production company has worked in 42 Arkansas communities in the past year, operates two national television shows and several online platforms, and ‘‘we're getting about 32,000,000 impressions in the marketplace.’’ He said his past state relationship began at about $100,000 and grew to $200,000 annually; he proposed the larger engagement because, he said, ‘‘in this past year, we can demonstrate that we've brought the value of about $1,300,000 to the state’’ based on industry valuation benchmarks (the ‘‘blue book’’ used in media valuation).

The committee pressed Smith on three themes: the sources of his company’s revenue, whether the work generates trackable spending in Arkansas, and why the state should pay a larger sum when other private attractions and agencies operate without the same subsidy. Senators and representatives asked for more granular evidence tying Smith’s claimed audience reach to hotel nights, tax receipts or relocations to Arkansas.

Stacy Hurst, secretary for the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, said the department uses syndicated researchers and conversion tracking to measure campaign impact and budgeting. Hurst corrected an earlier, inflated figure cited in the hearing, telling members: ‘‘Not 73,000,000,000, although I wish it was. It's 7,300,000,000.’’ She said the state’s tourism tax (a legislated 2 percent tax) generated $16,900,000 for reinvestment in fiscal year 2019 and that the department’s analysis of a 2018 spring–summer campaign showed a $135 return for every media dollar spent.

Hurst and staff described how the department contracts with Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods (CJRW) as the agency of record; CJRW may subcontract influencers and partners such as Smith. Hurst said the department has quarterly vendor performance reviews for CJRW and that some of Smith’s proprietary audience data are not directly available to the agency, which limits one-to-one comparisons of return on specific engagements. Parks staff told the committee they measured 1,432 visits to arkansas.com from palansmith.com over a two-year period and observed a relatively low conversion rate from that source compared with some other engagements.

Several legislators raised procurement and oversight concerns. Some members questioned whether a multi-year or sole-source arrangement would be appropriate, and others asked for an independent staff analysis comparing Arkansas’ tourism marketing spend with neighboring states. Members sought more detailed metrics: how the $135 ROI is calculated, per-capita marketing spend comparisons, vendor performance reports and the CJRW master contract executed on the state’s behalf.

Hurst said a substantial increase to an $800,000-plus engagement was not recommended without negotiated deliverables and measurable conversions. She told the committee she is ‘‘willing to sit down and negotiate the price and the measurables’’ and offered to provide charts, vendor performance reviews and the CJRW contract minutes to committee members.

The committee did not act to authorize new spending during the meeting. Members asked Parks staff to provide additional analytic detail and invited CJRW and the department to present further data at commission meetings and to the committee for follow-up oversight. The committee adjourned after the agency agreed to supply requested documentation and analytics.