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Baxter County leads the state in tourism tax percentage collections for 2020

The final Arkansas Tourism Ticker report for 2020 is out, and Baxter remains the state’s top bright spot in terms of 2% tourism tax collections for the year, as one of two counties on the plus side compared to the previous year.

The report indicates Baxter County’s collections are up 11.1% for the highest in the state. This represents collections of $473,705. Carroll County with collections up 6.27% is the only other county on the plus side compared to 2019.

The other eight counties were all in the red from Crittenden’s 4% to Benton’s 47%.

Overall, the Arkansas Tourism Ticker report notes Arkansas’ travel and tourism industry, which was enjoying more than a decade of growth, posted double-digit percentage declines in key categories in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the state in March 2020.

Arkansas’ 2% tourism tax revenue in 2020 was $13.6 million, down 22.7% compared with the $17.6 million in 2019.

January-December hospitality tax collections among 17 cities surveyed for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker fell 18% compared with 2019. The biggest hit was in lost revenue from hotel collections.

The only local city among the 17 is Harrison, which had a drop in collections of 10.8%.

The Arkansas Tourism Ticker is managed by Talk Business & Politics and sponsored by the Arkansas Hospitality Association.

Click here for the Arkansas Tourism Ticker full report and data.

Read the full article on the KTLO website here.

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