Arkansas Tourism Tax Revenue Rose 8.5% in First Half

The 2% tax on lodging, rentals, and attractions is rebounding after a 2025 decline.

Updated on Sept. 20, 2026 in Hospitality

Arkansas Tourism Tax Revenue Rose 8.5% in First Half

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Is the tourism and hospitality industry in your local area currently growing or declining?

Arkansas collected $14.234 million in 2% tourism tax revenue during the first half of 2026, marking an 8.5% increase compared to the same period in 2025. This growth follows a 0.26% decline in total tourism tax revenue during the 2025 calendar year.

Why it matters

The rebound suggests stronger consumer spending across tourism-linked categories such as hospitality and attractions, signaling potential demand shifts for local business operators. This uptick comes alongside a 2.5% increase in statewide tourism employment for the same six-month period.

Statewide tourism tax revenue hit $14.234 million for the first half of 2026, an 8.5% increase over the $13.122 million recorded in the first half of 2025. Employment in the sector rose 2.5% statewide, led by a 7.9% growth rate in Northwest Arkansas hospitality roles.

The players

Arkansas Tourism Ticker

An analytical tool that tracks hospitality tax collections, sector employment data, and state tax revenue to assess the state's tourism industry health.

The details

The Arkansas Tourism Ticker monitors industry health through a 2% tax applied to hotel stays, short-term rentals, camping fees, watercraft rentals, and tourist attraction tickets. Beyond state-level tax data, separate hospitality tax collections—derived from prepared food and lodging taxes across 17 surveyed cities—rose by 2% during the same window. These metrics provide operators with a benchmark for evaluating regional demand against state-wide performance trends.

2024 served as the baseline year for comparison against subsequent revenue collections.
January-June 2025 saw $13.122 million in total state tourism tax revenue.
January-June 2026 saw $14.234 million in total state tourism tax revenue.
June 2026 monthly tourism tax revenue reached $2.961 million.

Market Landscape

The current growth follows a 0.26% decline in total tourism tax revenue observed during the 2025 calendar year. This shift signals a reversal of the prior year's stagnation, reflecting broader activity trends across the state's hospitality and leisure sectors.

Operators in hospitality-adjacent sectors should monitor the 7.9% employment growth in Northwest Arkansas as an indicator of localized competition for labor. Businesses relying on discretionary tourism spending should use these state-wide revenue increases to recalibrate staffing and inventory for the remainder of the year.

The takeaway

The return to positive revenue growth underscores a strengthening tourism market that may justify cautious capital expenditure for seasonal businesses. Operators should track their monthly tax remittance against these state-wide trends to determine if their individual performance is keeping pace with regional demand.