Little Rock Mayor Stodola and the mayor’s tourism commission will roll out some brochures and maps today guiding visitors to the city’s 12 must-see attractions.
Announcement on jump. I’ll have the list of the 12 chosen — by members of the commission — after the news conference this afternoon. I hope to also have the cost of the promotion and the mayor’s thinking on taking up a tourism promotion effort apart from the Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission, which receives proceeds of a tax on restaurant and hotel bills to promote the city.
PS — I think it will develop that, though this is the mayor’s own intitiative and something of an indirect poke at A&P (whose revenue is running comfortably ahead, unlike some other areas of the economy) we’ll find that A&P provided the money for the mayor’s brochures. It’s a favorite go-to place for dough when the city has the shorts, which is frequently.
UPDATE: The Top 12 actually includes more than 12 specific places: Clinton Presidential Center; River Market District (including the Arkansas Studies Institute, Nature Center and River Market hall); Heifer International; the five “downtown” museums (including Aerospace as downtown attraction); MacArthur Park (including the military museum); Quapaw Quarter; Mosaic Templars Cultural Center; LR Central High National Historic Site; State Capitol; War Memorial Park (including fitness center and Zoo); Arkansas River Trail (including Big Dam Bridge); and Pinnacle Mountain State Park.
Also, Mayor Stodola answers my questions. More on the jump, but he says the effort is a complement, not a duplication, and that the product is a comprehensive, one-piece overview of major LR attractions, something that has been lacking.