Tourism An Important Part Of Hot Springs’ Success Story — But Not The Whole Story

Photos courtesy of Visit Hot Springs

 

When Devin Heath was recruited to replace longtime CEO Steve Arrison at Visit Hot Springs, he started doing some research. Having led tourism organizations across the South, he knew how to tell a story, how to whet the appetite of an audience to get travelers hooked on a destination. He said he loves seeing the light in someone’s eyes when they are eager for a new experience.

 

He even knew a little bit about Hot Springs, although, like many people outside Arkansas, he did not know the full story. The more he learned, the more the light he so often lit in others came on for him. This was a good fit. Now occupying a role he considers to be “chief storyteller,” he said he keeps expecting to find something he does not like about the job — but it has not happened yet.

 

“Every turn, I keep saying I’m waiting for something to rear its head that I’m not going to be excited about, but so far, even the challenges are exciting,” he said. “There’s going to be challenges in a role, and I get that, but there’s nothing that has me scared or has me second-guessing the decision. I’ve been thrilled to be here from the very beginning.”

 

 

As for the story, the complete story, the one that tells how Spa City came to be and all the nooks and crannies that make it what it is today, that tale has been on Heath’s lips ever since.

 

“Everybody that I’ve told in my family and friend group about Hot Springs, everybody knows about the bathhouses, but they don’t know that this was Vegas before Vegas,” he said. “They don’t know that we’ve had all kinds of history and characters that have come here. They don’t know that this is the birthplace of spring training baseball. They know that Arkansas has some of the best outdoor experiences that you can get in the country, but they don’t know the specific outdoor experiences that you can get here in Hot Springs.”

 

For folks across the U.S. and even internationally, that is something he hopes to change, but for now, Heath is doing more listening than he is talking. His first priority is getting to know his team and his community. His second is developing a plan.

 

“We’re going to move pretty quickly in a minute,” he said. “We’re not ready to move quickly yet because I need to get to know the community, but we’re going to start very soon on a strategic plan that we’re going to work on with the community. We want our community to be a part of it.”

 

Hot Springs is a tourist town; there is no escaping that identity. According to the latest research from Longwoods International, Hot Springs welcomes 9.7 million visitors annually, 78 percent of whom hail from out of state. The total economic impact of tourism on the city is $1.1 billion.

 

 

“We live in a city powered by tourism,” said Bill Solleder, director of marketing at Visit Hot Springs. “I like to play tourist often by attending local events and attractions. Most recently, I visited Garvan Woodland Gardens to see the Where the Wind Lives exhibit.”

 

 

Garvan is just one of the many places on the itinerary for a trip to Hot Springs. Others include Mid-America Science Museum, the Northwoods Trails, and Magic Springs Theme and Water Park, just to name a few. Solleder said he counts events such as the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade as attractions, as well, not to mention the city’s burgeoning status as a destination for foodies.

 

 

“The culinary scene has boomed over the last decade,” he said. “We celebrate our restaurateurs during Feast Month, which takes place over the entire month of November. We have countless pizza, taco and burger options, and the barbecue is legendary too. International and fine cuisine has really come forward. Personally, I am waiting for an Indian restaurant to open in Hot Springs.”

 

In Solleder’s mind, the more attractions there are in the city, the more excuses there are to visit.

 

“Hot Springs has an incredible product that can serve the luxe traveler, family travelers, budget travelers and outdoor enthusiasts,” he said. “Visitation has increased year over year, which is a great thing for Hot Springs, but I would like to see our visitors stay longer and make repeat visits to Hot Springs. To entice this, we need additional attractions and activities to keep folks excited about us.”

 

One of the city’s most established attractions is Oaklawn Hot Springs, grounded in a more than 120-year history of horse racing and now offering a world-class casino, resort and event center.

 

“Oaklawn’s competitive advantage is residing in Hot Springs,” said Wayne Smith, general manager. “We benefit from being in a city with so much character, natural beauty and history. Hot Springs benefits from having a nationally recognized resort and racing destination that brings people here. The stronger Hot Springs becomes, the more attractive Oaklawn becomes, and the more Oaklawn grows, the more opportunity it creates for the city.”

 

 

That opportunity comes to the tune of hosting tens of thousands of visitors for major race days, including an all-time record of 73,000 for this year’s Arkansas Derby. That is not to mention the vast numbers of conference attendees and concertgoers who visit the event center throughout the year.

 

 

While Oaklawn may bring people to the city, it is the natural beauty, charm and hospitality of Hot Springs that keeps them coming back, Smith said. Cultivating quality of life for residents is also important, he added, since great communities attract visitors, and exceptional communities attract investment.

 

“I’d like to see Hot Springs build on its success as a premier tourism destination by creating a more diversified economy,” he said. “Tourism will always be one of our greatest strengths, but I believe our next opportunity is attracting industries that provide high-quality careers, encourage entrepreneurship and give our young people more reasons to build their futures here.

 

“A broader mix of businesses will strengthen our economy, improve quality of life, and ensure Hot Springs continues to be a great place to visit, live, work and invest.”

 

That concept is not lost on Heath, who sees tourism as just one leg of what he called the “three-legged stool” of economic development, one also supported by residents and investment.

 

“Before any company comes in and builds a facility, a plant, a new corporate headquarters or a distribution center, they’re going to come in as a visitor,” he said. “If they have a great experience as a visitor, they’re going to turn around and say, ‘Hey, we should look at that as a place for us to build our company, for us to relocate our employees there, as a place to live, as a residence,’ but you first come as a visitor.”

 

For many, that first impression happens on Bathhouse Row. Cole McCaskill, interim president and CEO of the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce and Hot Springs Metro Partnership, said the area’s comeback story has been pivotal to the city’s overall prosperity.

 

 

When he was growing up, he said, downtown was not a popular place to be. Businesses were boarded up, the bathhouses were vacant, and the streets were all but deserted most of the week. Help came in the form of the National Park Service, which began leasing spaces in the bathhouses to private businesses.

 

“It activated those spaces. It turned the lights on,” he said. “You’ve got new business activity there. You’ve got people in there. It brought private investment to public property so we didn’t have to rely on the federal government to be spending 100 percent of the dollars there, and it was really a major domino in the long-term success story of downtown Hot Springs.”

 

 

Another boon was born of tragedy when the Majestic Hotel burned down in 2014, prompting a wave of civic engagement that paid off in a big way.

 

Since that time, McCaskill said, there has been $230 million in private investment and 260 new businesses downtown. Of those businesses, he added, 72 percent are still open — far surpassing the national small-business survival rate of about 50 percent.

 

He attributed that success to the established tourism industry downtown, spurred by Hot Springs National Park.

 

 

“For hundreds of years, humans have been coming to visit Hot Springs because of the thermal water and the beautiful landscape and the outdoor recreation opportunities,” he said. “As more and more people came, more and more private interests built up a great portfolio of tourism infrastructure and assets. There’s just no shortage of fun things for people to do while they’re here.”

 

Each new hotel, shop or eatery that opens downtown creates the opportunity for even more development as more businesses are needed to support the influx of workers and visitors, he added.

 

In addition to ongoing efforts to bolster the downtown area, the chamber has been working to support the local business community through a workforce development initiative that connects area high school seniors to local employers.

 

“We have a big pipeline of students in K-12, and that’s the future workforce,” he said. “They’re already living in Hot Springs; we don’t have to recruit them here, and we want to make sure that they understand all the opportunities that they have for employment,”

 

The initiative informs youngsters about entry-level jobs at local companies and what skills are required to advance.

 

“We’ve heard a lot of success stories from the top-level managers of local businesses,” McCaskill said. “I would say the majority of them started at the bottom, sweeping floors, and worked their way up, so that’s kind of the message that we’re communicating for that initiative.”

 

Oaklawn and CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs represent two of the area’s largest employers, he said, while Xpress Boats and Veranda Luxury Pontoon are the largest manufacturers. Other key employers include Mountain Valley Spring Water and several aerospace companies, and McCaskill said he is encouraged by continued investment by companies such as WinChoice and Window Mart.

 

He added that he expects continued success for the city, largely because of its foundation of natural resources such as thermal springs, the Ouachita National Forest and nearby lakes — resources that have made Hot Springs a destination from the very beginning.

 

“Nobody can recruit that to Texas or another state,” he said. “You have to come to Hot Springs to experience that, and people are going to continue coming to make use of that. A lot of folks are going to fall in love and decide that they want to live here and enjoy these natural resources every day, so we’re just built on the incredible natural beauty of this area, and things are going to continue to trend upward.”

 

SEE THE FEATURE BELOW AND IN OUR AUGUST 2026 ISSUE OF AY MAGAZINE

 

 

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