Bentonville tourists have a new first stop when visiting town. Visit Bentonville opened its new visitor center and office Tuesday, and the new spot is a bit more convenient than its previous location.
"Prior to this, we were running a visitor center from a big blue truck on Northeast Second Street, kind of near 21C and the Promenade.”
Alison Nation is chief marketing officer for Visit Bentonville. She says the old location confused some folks.
“The truck worked, but I mean, frankly, people would come by and be like, can I get a taco?"
Now, visitors– or residents looking for a new experience– have a centrally located center to stop by and get directions, advice, or just peruse the many, many maps. And in the age of the internet, when thousands of travel recommendations are just a few clicks away, Nation says people really value their local perspective.
"Guests want local expertise. You can find all sorts of things on Google. That doesn't mean it's what locals really enjoy or recommend. And so we find residents, we find visitors coming here for that inside scoop, for a free map, for a special trail map that we provide. You just can't beat that personal touch.”
Travis: Residents are coming in here, too?
“Sure — residents, regional locals, folks that come down for the farmers market from Bella Vista or Centerton, they'll be stopping in to get that extra layer of info about our dining scene or the public art, things like that."
Nation says the center itself could be a destination, as it's in one of the city's iconic alleyways, flanked by murals and gathering spots.
"I am really excited about the location. We are surrounded by some amazing public art right here. There's Kevin Lyons' murals. There's a mural by Randy Townsend, a lifelong Bentonville resident, that's about the history of the Ozarks. There's so many great murals to find on the alley as you're coming down to our visitor center. It's a great pairing."
She steps into the alley, which could be confused for a public art gallery.
"So in this alley — this is a signature Bentonville alley. We've got bars like Barley and Vine and The First Seat. We have twinkle lights drawing you down the alley towards the Onyx Coffee Lab. And we have murals by local artists. This is Sam Hale. He's been adding to this over the last few years. Musicians. There's a guitarist, a couple guitarists and a fiddler, and then these monsters. So this is by internationally renowned illustrator Kevin Lyons. He's had collabs with Adidas, various brands, shows and galleries in New York, and these adorable and funny little monster faces are all throughout this alley. So if you were to go all the way through the alley, past the dumpsters, you can see there's maybe three with silly hats sticking their tongues out with funny teeth down there. And there's several more over here. So exploring the alleys of Bentonville, you can find really cool art, and so it's really fun to be right here amongst it all."
You can check out Visit Bentonville's website for a browser-friendly experience of what's happening in town. But Nation says she encourages folks to stop by the center. The Visit Bentonville team prides themselves on hospitality.
“My favorite thing to do is to host visitors, and that's because my job as chief marketing officer, I get to guide journalists and influencers coming to town on an experience of our city. And so having that experience where they come in and they say, you know, I've never been to Arkansas, oh, it looks cool in the pictures — and then seeing the wonderment and the excitement and the joy that can come from biking down the Applegate Trail into Coler and arriving at the Airship for a coffee, you know, no one expects it. And the surprise and the delight is truly contagious."
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
