Destination Rogers Staff Promote Tourism Industry Throughout State of Arkansas

What happened: Destination Rogers, a division of the Rogers Lowell Chamber, Director of Sales Luke Wiggins recently spoke to Rogers High School as part of the Chamber’s partnership with Rogers Public Schools for the Mountie Mentors program. He talked about why students should consider travel, live events, and hospitality for their career along with all the pathways to advancement it offers.

Promoting Arkansas: Luke and Destination Rogers Executive Director J.R. Shaw also attended the 2023 Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Over 500 tourism professionals from throughout the Natural State came together in El Dorado to learn, connect, and celebrate the 2nd largest industry in Arkansas.

By the numbers: Visitors spent $8 billion in 2021 in Arkansas, a 33.3% increase over 2020 and equaling 2019’s record number. The industry supports over 64,000 jobs and generates $653 million in state and local taxes, meaning every household in the state saves $759 in taxes from the additional tax revenue generated by tourism.

Celebrating success: Governor Sanders attended the Henry Awards banquet on the conference’s final night. The Henry Awards celebrate excellence in Arkansas tourism across five categories, including the Rising Star Award, where we were honored to have Luke as a finalist. The Downtown Rogers Railyard Park and Butterfield Stage were also finalists for this year’s Tourism Development Award. Recognition by our peers as leaders in tourism creates positive awareness of Rogers as a world class destination and celebrates our successes in placemaking, 3rd space promotion, and service to our community.