Last week, I was contacted by the manager of one of Russellville’s hotels. The news had just broken about Attorney General Tim Griffen’s certification of the popular name and ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment proposed by Local Voters in Charge.
Interested in helping in any way that they can.
(The manager) hoped I could provide information about the casino situation related to his and other local hoteliers’ concerns. He said that they are looking forward to the completion of Legends Resort and Casino, and the news of the ballot initiative was troubling. Their hope is that the casino will boost the occupancy rate of the local hotels, which has been down in recent years.
I explained what I could about the current status of the rule change process and the upcoming application period.
He was quite concerned about the Local Voters in Charge’s efforts to stop the casino. I explained that this was the third time that they had tried and told him about the Arkansas Tourism Alliance BQC and what (the people in charge of that) and others had done with that. After I told him about that, he said that he and other local hoteliers would be very interested in helping in the effort to stop the Local Voters in Charge ballot attempt. I told him I would reach out to put him in contact.
Adverse impacts by Airbnb and other short-term rentals in the Russellville area
(The manager) told me that short-term rental properties, such as Airbnb, in the area are adversely affecting the occupancy rates of local hotels. ANO outage workers, many of whom had lodged in the hotels, are increasingly using short-term rentals.
The hoteliers hope that the completion of the casino will help reverse their flagging occupancy with increased area visitation because of the casino and events at the resort.
He told me that he had recently tried to contact local officials about it, but they had not returned his calls.
A 900-room hotel