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Tourism director previews America 250 participation, announces ticketing platform change and flags state booking rollout
Summary
The commission heard a tourism director's report highlighting America 250 participation in Washington, D.C., a switch to a new ticketing platform (stubs.net), strong web performance metrics and the state's incremental RIPE booking rollout; staff will share further details when available.
Mike, the tourism director, told the Advertising & Promotion Commission on June 24 that Eureka Springs will participate in the America 250 events in Washington, D.C., and that staff are stepping up marketing efforts around weddings, mountain biking, families and entertainment travelers.
"Eureka Springs is going to take it to the street," Mike said of the America's 250 participation, and he said staff Danielle and Jana will represent the city at the Arkansas pavilion in late June.
Mike announced the CAPC will migrate ticketing to stubs.net (referred to in the meeting as "stub.net net"), citing lower per‑ticket costs and improved data capture. "The cost uses two bucks a ticket," he said, and noted the new platform can be free for charitable events and can import existing email campaigns for demographic tracking. The first show on the new system will be Al Jardine and Pet Sounds, a Beach Boys‑tribute performance.
On state partnerships, Mike described a new booking integration on arkansas.com called RIPE booking (described in the meeting as "RIPE book"), which the state is rolling out in phases. He said staff do not yet have full implementation details but confirmed the tax handling will remain the same as current practice. "It will be the same way we have it today," Mike said about tax remittance under the new booking tool.
Mike highlighted recent marketing performance: roughly 74,000 visitors to the site in the prior month, strong click‑through rates on paid search and targeted mobile campaigns, and engagement gains in the Dallas–Fort Worth market. He also noted partnerships with the state and third‑party vendors such as Madden and the Arkansas pavilion and stressed the importance of channeling appropriate itineraries (family, weekend, girls' nights out) into state promotion.
Commissioners asked whether the new state booking tool would carry commissions or other fees and whether the state guide would return to specialized printed brochures for topics like motorcycle routes; Mike said the state is still working out details and that the commission will receive updates when available.
The commission welcomed the tourism activity and asked staff to circulate further information about state booking participation and ticketing changes to lodging partners and businesses.
