The A&P, explained.

It's a seven-person commission created by Bella Vista city ordinance under Arkansas state law (specifically, A.C.A. § 26-75-605). Its sole purpose is to attract visitors to Bella Vista so that local restaurants, short-term rentals, and the broader tourism economy can grow.

Every Arkansas city that levies a tourism tax is required by state law to create one of these commissions — Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Little Rock, Fort Smith, and dozens of others all have one. Same law, same basic structure, different city.

Advertising & Promotion.

No. The A&P is a separate body created by the city, with its own commission, its own budget, and its own legal mandate.

The A&P Commission is the governing body — seven people who approve budget and strategy in public meetings. Discover Bella Vista is the public-facing brand — the name on the website, the social channels, the visitor guide, the signage at events.

Because tourism doesn't market itself, and Bella Vista isn't competing in a vacuum. Every city around us — Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville, Springdale — runs an aggressive marketing operation. If Bella Vista didn't, we'd quietly disappear from travel guides, regional press, event partnerships, and search results. Fewer outside visitors would know about Bella Vista, which means far fewer dollars flowing into our restaurants, short-term rentals, and various business benfitting from visitor spending.

From two specific taxes, and that's it:

• 1% on prepared food (restaurants and bars in Bella Vista)
• 2% on short-term rental stays (Airbnb, VRBO, and similar)

The A&P receives no money from property taxes, no money from the city's general fund, no state or federal grants. Tourism taxes only.

The A&P tax is a 2% pass-through tax paid by the guest at a short term rental and a 1% pass-through tax paid by the guest at a restaurant. It is not paid by the short-term rental owner nor the restaurant owner, but rather "passed-through" from the customer to the A&P. In fact, for the majority of the short-term rental owners, the tax is collected directly by platforms like Airbnb/VRBO and "passed-through" to the A&P.

A few things would happen:

• The tourist tax revenue would disappear entirely
• Bella Vista stops marketing while every surrounding city continues to market
• Visitor spending in town declines — and the additional state and city sales tax that visitor spending generates declines with it

Roughly $500,000 per year. For regional context:

• Bentonville's tourism budget: ~$3.6 million
• Fayetteville's: ~$2.8 million
• Rogers': ~$2.5 million
• Bella Vista's: ~$500,000

We operate at roughly 14% of Bentonville's tourism budget — and despite that gap, our short-term rental occupancy now runs close to theirs.

Three jobs, in order: bring visitors to Bella Vista, help them have a good time once they're here, and give them reasons to return.

In practice, the work breaks into four buckets:

• Paid advertising — digital and print campaigns putting Bella Vista in front of the right audiences regionally and nationally
• Content marketing — original video, photography, the printed visitor guide, the website, and topic microsites like bellavistaarts.com, bellavistaeats.com, and bellavistastories.com
• Influence marketing — long-term partnerships with trusted content creators whose audiences match the visitors we want
• Events & brand activations — sponsoring and showing up at marquee races, tournaments, festivals, and the farmers' market

Underneath all of that sits the team that makes it run, the production and vendor contracts, and the work of managing the whole operation month to month.

Four messages, each grounded in something genuinely true about Bella Vista — no exaggeration required:

• Best Place to Stay in Northwest Arkansas. Bella Vista's lack of chain hotels is a feature, not a bug. The short-term rental experience here offers something the surrounding cities can't.
• Best Place to Train in Northwest Arkansas. The quantity, variety, and quality of mountain bike trails — surrounded by natural beauty — is genuinely hard to match. The longer-term ambition is "Best Place to Train in the US."
• Where the Big Kids Play. A place for outdoor-minded families and couples who want peace and quiet alongside their adventure, and the kind of mature, responsible community that comes with it.
• Getting Away is Closer than You Think. A real getaway for NWA residents and visitors looking for an alternative to the suburban sprawl that surrounds most chain-hotel lodging in the region.

Each message leverages an asset that already exists rather than trying to invent one.

Bella Vista's competitive advantage isn't immediately obvious in a single image. Our mountains are short and our streams are small. Our lakes are closed to the public. Standing next to Vail, Whistler, or even Bentonville with one pretty picture doesn't work. The story is in the heart and tenacity of the town — and that requires deeper storytelling.

• Why video. Video storytelling continues to be the number one tourism and destination marketing tool industry-wide.
• Why events. Sponsoring marquee races, tournaments, and festivals borrows credibility from established brands, opens communication channels we couldn't otherwise afford, and earns press coverage no ad budget could buy.
• Why influencers. A long-term partnership with a trusted creator whose audience already matches our target visitor is the closest thing to a personal recommendation at scale.
• Why biking specifically. Bike trails and golf are essentially the only Bella Vista amenities open to the public. Our golf courses already run near capacity, so biking is where the meaningful growth in visitor revenue is.

Every Northwest Arkansas city is marketing aggressively — weekly, monthly, annually. Cities that stop marketing don't stay "naturally popular." They get crowded out by the cities that don't stop.

Visitors who fit Bella Vista. Specifically: families, couples, and small groups of friends with the time and money to stay multiple days and the inclination to come back. People who appreciate trails, lakes, golf, and a nature-first pace than downtown Bentonville.

With roughly one-seventh of Bentonville's budget, we pick our battles instead of spreading thinly. We focus on what's genuinely ours — the trails, the natural beauty, and unique residential character — and we look for partnerships where someone else's larger spend can amplify ours. We also stay disciplined about the visitor we're targeting, which means smaller campaigns aimed at the right people rather than larger ones aimed at everyone.

The A&P:

• Is not the Chamber of Commerce. We don't sign up new businesses, handle business licensing, or run a member directory.
• Does not build or maintain trails or parks. That's the City, the POA, and trail-building partners.
• Does not set zoning, manage roads, or run events end-to-end. We sponsor events and bring in partners; we don't replace event organizers.
• Does not regulate short-term rentals. That's a separate city function.

If a question is about marketing Bella Vista to outside visitors, it's probably us. If it's about anything else, it's probably someone else.

Seven members, all volunteers, structured by Arkansas state law:

• Four owners or managers of tourism-related businesses (at least three must run hotels, short-term rentals, or restaurants)
• Two current members of the Bella Vista City Council
• One at-large member from the community

The Bella Vista City Council appoints them. The four tourism-industry members must actually own or manage qualifying businesses. The two council members are drawn from current council. The at-large seat is a resident appointed by the council.

No. They serve as volunteers — no salary, no stipend, no expense account for meeting attendance.

The Commission contracts with a Management and Marketing agencythat handles strategy, campaigns, partnerships, event production, vendor management, and financial reporting. The agency reports to the Commission at its quarterly public meetings; the Commission reviews and approves all work and budgets.As a general rule larger A&Ps maintain full-time staff and smaller A&Ps utilize contract agencies.

Quarterly. Meetings are open to the public. Agendas and approved minutes are posted on the Discover Bella Vista website.

Yes to both. Public comment is part of every regular meeting. If you'd like to be placed on the agenda for a specific topic, contact the A&P ahead of time.

Profit & Financial information is presented at every quarterly commission meeting and approved publicly. Here is a link to the most recent financial report.

Several ways, but the most important is the simplest: are local restaurants and short-term rentals doing more business than they were before?

Between 2019 and 2024, Bella Vista's combined food and lodging revenue doubled — from roughly $18.6 million to $37.2 million. A&P tax collections rose from about $207,500 to $500,000 over the same period.

We also track audience reach (social impressions, website visitors, press coverage), event attendance, and partnership growth.

The fastest way is to contact the A&P directly by email. The email address is info@discoverbellavista.com. You can also attend a Commission meeting and use the public comment period.

Several ways, even if you never use a single "tourism" amenity directly:

• Restaurants stay open year-round. Many local kitchens survive the slow months on summer visitor revenue. Without that, several of your favorite local spots would close in winter or not exist at all.
• Additional sales tax flows to the city. Visitors don't just pay the A&P tax — they also pay regular state and city sales tax on everything else (gas, retail, activities). That money funds general city services. In 2025 alone, this generated over
• Trail systems and amenities get used by visitors and residents alike. Investment in their visibility helps justify their existence and maintenance.
• Property values are influenced by reputation. A place that's "on the map" holds value better than one that isn't.

The A&P doesn't just fund "things visitors do." It funds the conditions that make Bella Vista work as a small city. If you eat at a local restaurant — particularly in the off-season — you're benefiting from a business that didn't have to close because summer visitor traffic kept the lights on. If you appreciate the events and festivals happening around town, many of them only happen because the A&P brings sponsorship dollars to organizers who couldn't otherwise afford to operate here.

Contact the A&P. Sponsorship and event support requests are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year, and the Commission runs an annual budget cycle in the fall where larger multi-year commitments are considered. Here is a link to the Community Promotion Application.