With COVID-19 vaccinations increasing and virus cases decreasing, Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison delivered a particularly positive message to the Rotary Club of Hot Springs National Park on Wednesday about the future of the city.

“Aren’t we lucky enough to live in Hot Springs National Park?” The arrest began. “Today’s word will be positive, OK?”

Before going into his “somewhat” prepared remarks, he cheekily said at the outset that Arrison told the room full of people enjoying a meal at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa that gatherings are becoming more frequent, and he predicts that Hot Springs will have a record will break summer. One indicator of this is the record-breaking hospitality tax revenue in March, which exceeded the pre-pandemic tax revenue in March 2019 by almost 10%.

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“I’m not looking back, I don’t care what happened last year; that’s over,” said Arrison. “The future is so, so bright for our church.”

With attractions like the growing Northwoods Trails system and the soon-to-be-completed Majestic Park baseball complex, visitors are returning to the spa.

“Let’s look at the Northwoods,” said Arrison. “It’s amazing what’s going on out there, and it’s a huge draw for our community. People want to be outside – they want to go for a walk, they want to hike, they want out of Dallas and Memphis and such big cities around us so come here. “

Majestic Park, the five-field youth baseball complex slated to open in September, will bring the sports tourism business the city didn’t have before.

“This (Majestic Park) has already been running every weekend next year, March through the end of the baseball season, all of which are booked for travel tournaments except for Mother’s Day and I think Easter,” he said. “So that has been very well received.”

In a long list of upcoming events to bring even more tourism to Hot Springs, Arrison mentioned the following:

• On May 30th, July 4th and September 6th there will be three fireworks shows on the lake.

• The Stueart Pennington World Championship Running of the Tubs will return to downtown Hot Springs on June 5th.

• Bridge Street Live takes place in the downtown entertainment district every Thursday in June. This block-party-style event plays live music from reggae to funk.

• The Spa City Classic Pickleball Tournament will take place on July 16th and 17th.

• The fourth annual baseball weekend, featuring baseball legends Andre Dawson, Goose Gossage, Al Hrabosky and Jim Edmonds, takes place on August 27th and 28th.

• The Hot Springs Blues & Jazz Weekend takes place on September 3rd and 4th.

• The 30th Annual Hot Spring Documentary Film Festival takes place October 8-16.

• The Gudrun Mountain Bike Festival will take place in the Northwoods from November 12th to 14th.

Looking ahead to next year, the annual shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade on Bridge Street is slated to take place on March 17, 2022 after skipping two consecutive years.

With Southern Airways Express adding Memphis as a non-stop connection hub in June, the flight service is expanding for those looking to come to Hot Springs for weekend getaways to enjoy all of the things the city has to offer.

“Our church is on fire,” said Arrison. “We have to keep the role going and you are the most important people as hot spring citizens.”

He urged the community to be hot springs “https://www.hotsr.com/news/2021/may/16/keep-the-roll-going/” and to market their homes to everyone to still be bring more tourism in the coming months.

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