Little Rock's tourism industry and tourist offerings with Gina Gimberling

On this episode of the podcast, Rex welcomes back to the show, Gina Gimberling, President and CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau (LRCVB), to talk about all things tourism in The Natural State's capital city.  Rex and Gina begin by discussing the importance and necessity of the Tourism Master Plan, which was launched shortly after the conclusion of the covid-19 pandemic, and which has greatly helped the LRCVB rethink its strategy for tourism and tourist offerings in and around Little Rock. Much of the focus of the early part of Rex and Gina's conversation in this episode includes the growth of culinary offerings in downtown Little Rock – which includes international as well as local cuisine – updates to the Statehouse Convention Center and the restoration and reopening of the Robinson Center in 2016. The duo note how rare it is for a city of Little Rock's size to have what the LRCVB describes as "a full-service bureau" for tourism, whereas many cities' tourism outlets serve mainly as a vehicle for marketing. Gina mentions how the LRCVB has been and continues to be involved in plans to revitalize the city's River Market district, which includes not only storefronts and businesses along President Cinton Ave. but a pavilion center and amphitheater as well. While Rex and Gina discuss a number of other exciting tourism-related topics in this episode, they end on the importance of the tourism industry and economic outlook for Arkansas, which includes recent investments in arts-related tourist offerings and the addition of the tourist industry's more than 8,000 jobs in The Natural State.  Follow Rex Nelson's Southern Fried Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, or visit arkansasonline.com/podcast23 for an exclusive subscription offer available only to podcast listeners.