Hot Springs is getting ready for the spring break travel rush

Little Rock, Arkansas – As spring break approaches, more people will be visiting the Natural State.

While some businesses in Hot Springs experience an increase in clients, others do not always experience an increase in business.

“We’re a big spring break destination… Hot Springs is for sure and Arkansas is,” Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison said.

Although the past two years have been record-breaking, spring break marks the beginning of the city’s “busy season,” according to Arrison.

“We’re gonna have another record year,” Arrison said. “Our last research we did we have over three million overnight visitors and about seven million total visitors.”

He claimed that as a result, companies see the effects of tourism at this time of year.

“Most of the restaurant collections are way up,” Arrison said. “We were at 22% last month.”

Yet, the owner of Bubba’s does not observe growth in business despite increased sales. Inflation, according to Bubba’s manager Kimberly Balentine, is a major factor.

“Everything has skyrocketed,” Balentine said. “But we’re trying to do the best we can to not overprice everything for our customers.”

Due to increased expenditures, they now update the menu every four months rather than once a year. They are still experiencing a labor scarcity, according to Balentine.

“We do not have enough staff to run it but we do the best we can,” Balentine said.

She claimed that because Bubba’s has lost roughly 15 people, it is more difficult to keep up with the large crowds.

“Our business has picked up a lot faster this year than in the years before,” Balentine said.

Balentine attributed Oaklawn’s earlier race-starting times to the increase in business.

“We get busy in the afternoon after the races lead out,” Balentine said.

Balentine requests a little patience from his clients as Bubba experiences an increase of roughly 30% during this time of year.

“We’re trying to make it work on everybody’s part,” Balentine said.

While most Arkansas schools begin spring break on Friday, Texas schools just began their break this week.