If you’re going to unveil a mobile visitors center — aka a van with a TV and offerings of Little Rock brochures inside — do it to the tune of Ray Charles’ “Hit The Road Jack.” At least that’s what the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau did for a small crowd huddled together outside the Statehouse Convention Center Thursday.
The great unveiling of the van, which was covered by a big black sheet a few hours earlier, felt like a stage change during a live play performance. Several hands were on deck to whip the sheet elegantly down the van’s backside. Then the side door displaying the slogan “Big on Little Rock” slid open, the back doors swung out and a TV on a sliding mechanism came into view. Colorful brochures with information about the best things to do in Little Rock were positioned front and center, and the area surrounding the van became a recreational space of sorts with corn hole, Connect Four and lounge chairs.
If Feb. 29 had been as unseasonably warm as the earlier part of the week, maybe some folks would have played a game or two. Attendees did, however, help themselves to some of the decadent treats available off to the side. Among those were several varieties of cookies, some delicate-looking triangular treats (cheesecake, apple pie creations and other things we’re sad will remain a mystery to our tongues) and iced sugar cookies in the shape of the van.
The mobile visitors center has been a project years in the making, said Adam Berrios, vice president of sales and services for the LRCVB. “Our objective was to craft a concept that could really help us tell Little Rock’s story in a meaningful way,” Berrios said. The mobile visitors center will both assist tourists and boost local pride, he said.
The van is expected to move around Little Rock to grab the attention of residents and collect data from tourists, Berrios said. Information on where the visitors are coming from, what attractions they’re in town for and how long they’re staying are among the data points to be gathered. The van will also go to other cities to promote Little Rock.
Little Rock has some pretty good tourism grabs, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. noted as he took the mic Thursday. Little Rock has Civil Rights tourism with Central High and the Little Rock Nine; political appeal in Bill Clinton’s Library and museum; outdoor recreation along the Arkansas River and Pinnacle Mountain; and arts and entertainment spots like the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.
Gina Gemberling, president and CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the mobile visitors center was a “tremendous step forward in our mission to showcase Little Rock as a premier destination.”
