Experience Texarkana reports tourism gains; commission votes to pursue hiring A&P director

Danny Hamblett and Tracy Pittman of the Experience Texarkana agency updated the A&P Commission on recent marketing work, advertising performance and economic impact from recent events including the air show. The agency said outbound clicks to partner attractions and lodging grew substantially and that regional drive-market traffic is up in targeted areas such as Dallas and Little Rock.

Hamblett said the group is building a dashboard to report hotel-room conversions, online reach and event-driven economic impact and said the agency is testing a tourism app for curated tours and check-ins. He described the work as aligned with state tourism efforts and said cooperation with Arkansas Tourism could provide matching funds for campaigns.

In the discussion that followed, commissioners debated whether the commission should hire a full-time A&P director to provide continuity and better align long-term strategy. Staff recommended drafting a job description and researching comparable positions in similarly sized Arkansas markets; Eureka Springs and other cities were cited as examples that use a director model.

A motion to move forward — directing staff to prepare an application/job description, collect market salary and duties data, and have the attorney review parameters — passed on a roll-call vote. Commissioners asked staff to return recommended job descriptions and salary ranges and to present candidate-application materials when ready.

Why it matters: Commissioners said a resident-director could provide continuity, training for newly seated commissioners and a single point of accountability for marketing, events and grant follow-up. The vote sets in motion administrative steps toward a formal job posting and selection process.