A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas

Kalene Griffith Talks Reinvesting in Bentonville

• Visit Bentonville

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We sit with Visit Bentonville CEO Kalene Griffith to trace how a destination management approach turns visitor spending into daily life upgrades: better parks, a busier library, a thriving community center, and a steady calendar of film, cycling, art, and sports events that fill rooms and keep families out playing after dark. From Phillips Park and Lawrence Plaza to Memorial Park upgrades, Kaylene lays out how small, targeted investments add up to a livable, lovable city. 

Looking ahead to 2026, we explore a bold slate of priorities: a unified wellness story that connects spas, trails, and healthy dining; added cycling and sporting events, and more. The new destination master plan pairs resident feedback with a growth blueprint designed to protect what locals love while welcoming the world. If you care about sustainable growth, hospitality careers, and how tourism can raise quality of life, this is your playbook.

Learn more at visitbentonville.com

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.

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Beth Bobbitt:

Welcome back to a new American town. I'm your host, Beth Bobbitt, and I'm so pleased to sit down with the incredible leader who's been shaping Bittenville for two decades now, Kaitleen Griffith, CEO of Visit Bittenville. Welcome back, Kaitleen. Well, thank you for having me again. Yes, this is a pleasure. So you've been at the helm for 20 years now. Wow, that's incredible tenure. For listeners who might not fully understand what a destination marketing organization does, can you break it down for us?

Kalene Griffith:

Yeah. So just to kind of clarify a couple of things, destination marketing organizations are organizations that really focus on their community and marketing it. We are more of a destination management organization. We're involved in more than just marketing. We talk about sales. We're involved in how's the hospitality industry working? What is our community leading in, and how can we support our community leaders as we go, as it engages tourism? So it might be economic development because I think we're the gateway to economic development. The other thing is that we are how do we create and help support the quality of life for our residents? So it's not just about the visitor. We hope our investments and our work that we do also create a quality of life for our residents.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah, yeah. And it is amazing work that you're doing. A lot of people hear tourism and think it's about bringing in visitors. So thank you for clarifying that it's yes, that and more. And you mentioned it's an economic driver. How does it actually improve quality of life for people who live here?

Kalene Griffith:

Well, I think there's a couple things that we do. We create uh the economic impact by bringing in sale events to our community through our sales team. Uh we have citywide events like the Bentonville Film Festival, uh, the Bike Fest, um, also uh Lifetime. That's a big week for us uh with big sugar and little sugar, as well as what People for Bikes does during that week and our partnership with USA Cycling. All of those bring economic dollars into our community, so that impacts our local residents. But then we have another side that a lot of uh DMOs do not have. We invest back in our community. Uh, we spend dollars in bringing product that impacts the tourism industry, but also supports our local residents. Um, and I think we have a couple projects that we're gonna talk a little bit about. But I think those are the things that we're doing is we're creating this quality of life that people want to come here and live here and work here. Um, we're not, you know, our trail development was done uh through the Oz uh trails organization and runway group and blue crane and trailblazers. Uh so all of that group, that impact of the trails, our job is to tell their story. Our locals get to experience that uh those trails.

Beth Bobbitt:

Right, right. And it is a cycle of, you know, getting people in, investing, and you know, the it's continuous. Yeah.

Kalene Griffith:

And I real quick, I forgot to talk about this. The arts, what Alice Walton has done for the arts and the medical industry right now, that that's a newest, a new uh area for us. Right. But the arts are just another one that um, you know, most places, a town of 76,000 or even a half million in our region, do not get the opportunity to have a place like Crystal Bridges that you get to experience locally, but it also brings in that tourism uh experience and people want to see what's happening here.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah. And your sponsorship dollars as you know, visit Bittenville, just amplifies and enhances all of that, you know, on a local level. Yeah. Um so you do all this and you have a relatively small team. Give us a snapshot of who makes this happen. What's the structure like?

Kalene Griffith:

Yeah, um, I am very fortunate. I think that's one of uh our 2024 and 2025 um initiatives for me was to build a team that is very successful and looks forward to our future and is really buying into what we're doing here in Bentonville. And so I have a team of, I have a communications team of four, which is still a small team for what we do. And then and they're amazing, and our numbers are doubling and tripling and quadrupling in all of those areas, uh, from our social media to our uh website engagement. And then we have a sales team of uh five people. Um we have a sixth person that helps with the events on that side of it, but we have a sales team that does, and then we have a visitor experience team, and that's really engaging with our locals as well as our visitors coming in and wanting to know what's going on. And then our newest position is um we have a community engagement manager, and it's really being involved in the community, is like going out and finding out what's going on with our hotels, restaurants, what are our successes and what are our challenges, and how do we meet those challenges? And that at community engagement is part of our how do we uh educate our hospitality industry? Right. What's missing? What are the gaps? And how do we continue to support our community and the businesses that are impacting tourism as well as supporting those businesses? So I think those are some of the things. The last is that a lot of um DMOs across the United States are also not the tax collecting entity. We are the tax collecting. So I have a finance team of three that really focus on making sure our restaurants and our hotels are taken care of, but also visiting with them and being building that relationship with them to create uh that partnership and understanding what we're doing, because the tax is a pass-through tax. The customers are paying it, uh, the people visiting our community are paying it, and then we're able to take that money and invest back into our community and invest back in the marketing that invests in the community. And that's the AMP fund.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yes, yes. Yes. So you have your finger on the pulse of everything happening, you know. In fact, as you were coming in, you mentioned you were just in a meeting with Geena Davis so nonchalantly. And I just thought, what what a world we live in. Yeah.

Kalene Griffith:

We do live in a really cool world. And it's fun to um ideate with uh somebody like a Gina Davis and the Bentonville Film Festival leadership, talking about what are they doing for 26 and some of their successes and some of the ideas that they're doing and how do we can kind of support that, but then also we get that opportunity to be part of that ideation. And it really makes our organization, I see the value of us as a group and as a team of leaders in our community uh with the whole full team that, you know, it's not just one or two people that are making things happen. It is a full team of people and the partnerships that we're working with and the stakeholders that are in our community. And so I always say that it's a lot of fun to do, but you know, all those ideations create work for our team. And, you know, my team loves it after I have one of those meetings because I come back with a list of things to do that we're gonna be executing in the next year. So those are um exciting and fun and opportunities that not everybody gets to have. Right. You know, and so um I love getting that opportunity, but um it's also uh very rewarding um to see the success after that event happens. Absolutely how our team has been involved.

Beth Bobbitt:

And you know, you're planning ahead constantly, always being strategic and looking at 2026. But I'd love to like take a step and look back at 2025. One of the things I find most compelling about tourism revenue is how it gets reinvested in our community. Um, so what kind of major projects have you funded this past year? Yeah.

Kalene Griffith:

So uh last year we did Phillips Park. Uh, we were just a partial on that. The city invested quite a bit. We invested about $3 million over five years. Um, so we we take a certain amount of those dollars and invest back into it. We work with the city on those projects. Uh, we did the library. Uh we invested a half million dollars with the library uh for that expansion. And we loved part of that unconventional convention that we do in the downtown area where we have multiple facilities for conventions, which you're not stuck in a convention center. You can come to Bentonville and get to experience the community. You become kind of a resident within our community, seeing all of our facilities, and the library is a perfect place for that as an add-on. And so I think those are the exciting things. I think some of the things that I like to talk about that a lot of people don't know, uh Lawrence Plaza, that was one of my first projects. It was about 1.4 million. So you get to experience the ice rink because Chris Sooter went to Boston and saw an experience with the ice rink in the splash park, came back and said, What do you think? And I said, I'm on it. Let's get it. And so seeing that kind of project when you go down there now with all the lights and the promenade being built, it is really experiencing the growth that's happened started almost 17 years ago in this downtown with the experiences that we're creating from a tourism standpoint, but also our locals get to invest or get to experience that. So it's really exciting about that. Um, Memorial Park. If you look at Memorial Park, scoreboards, our team invested in that. The all the turf, we did all the turf at we put new fencing up. Um, so the things that we're doing, all the pitching mounds that now are uh removable, we invested in those. The lights, some of those things, the volleyball, we put the lights on them. Little things that we've done that have impacted our locals have been a huge impact, uh, not just for the residents, but also for our visitors. Absolutely. So and my fate, one of my favorite is the community center. Um, that community center experience that we had, um, they were not gonna do the eight-lane pool immediately. It was gonna be kind of a phase two. Uh, the school, uh, Bentonville school system and us said, hey, let's work together because we could do um events on the weekends, uh races um and different stuff. But the school needed it for their swim team to practice. So it was a great community partnership, but we invested in it. So now we host 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, and um, I think it's 7A now, but they might have gone back to 6A, they might have eliminated that. Um, but we do all their swim meets, their state meets. So I think it's really um an opportunity for us to kind of create this partnership and create experiences for our locals that impact the residents.

Beth Bobbitt:

And these places are highly utilized. I mean, you go by Lawrence Park any day of the week, it is packed. And you know, that that must be rewarding to see it be, you know, so popular.

Kalene Griffith:

I think the smiles, when you see kids playing and families there, I think one of the things that um we really want to make sure is that it impacts a full family. It's not just one or two people when you're talking about telling our story. We think this is a great family destination, and it's exciting about that. And so I think those are the kind of things that uh we we want to see more visitors because we know that it impacts our neighbors that own restaurants, our neighbors that own the hotels or are working in our hotels or restaurants. They're getting impacted by the visitors that are coming in. And so I think for us it's all of those smiles and those experiences and knowing that we're impacting the locals.

Beth Bobbitt:

Absolutely. So let's talk a little bit about partnerships. You've you mentioned a few. Um, you've had major activations with Arkansas Tourism in Chicago, Denver, Monterey. What is that kind of collaborative work look like and why is it important for you all?

Kalene Griffith:

Yeah, I think um one of I think that that's one of Visit Bentonville's um kind of uh we can put that notch for us, uh that success story is that we see the value of more people involved create more opportunities for us. And we can't afford to do some of those activations by ourselves. So how do we find those partners to do that? And um we're really um very fortunate with uh state tourism and the their visioning and making those activation opportunities. And we got to go to Chicago and we met with 40 influencers. Wow. Um, and so they were telling our story, but then also we were able to tell our story to those folks in Chicago, and so they talked about us. And then the next day we went to uh an area in Chicago and created this activation for the locals and got to talk to thousands of people about Bentonville and uh and and Arkansas as a whole. So, you know, when we go talk, it's not just about Bentonville. And I always say that that's my livelihood, but how do we elevate Arkansas as my passion because it does benefit all of us? And so I think those are the kind of opportunities that we look at that are gonna be our success story. Because I think the more people involved, there's more opportunities for us to talk about each other and it elevates all of us. And so it's exciting for that.

Beth Bobbitt:

So and we know the importance. I mean, you are in marketing, you're in it, but word of mouth cannot be overstated. It is critical. I mean, that that's people believe people and they believe their friends and family. And so, you know, that to be able to tell someone about your experience is is really valuable.

Kalene Griffith:

Well, we were fortunate. We went to outside fests this year with multiple cities and then also the state. And um, I remember standing there and a couple of the folks came up and said, Kayleen, everyone knows about Bentonville. And I said, Not everyone, because we're gonna keep telling that story. But it was nice to hear that people had either had it on their bucket list, yeah, been here before, or are planning to come. Yeah. So we we had a great audience there that um, but it was multiple cities, so we were able to talk about all of the cities in Arkansas, uh, but we got to hear a lot about Bentonville. And so, you know, it always makes you really excited and happy that I know my team is just making strides and telling our story. And then our sales team is talking about what's going on. So we have this really great dynamic with our team.

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah, everybody is on the same crusade. Yes, I love it. So let's look ahead to 2026. Um, what are you most excited about? There's some big priorities and initiatives, I know.

Kalene Griffith:

Yeah, uh gosh, there's so many things. You know, uh, we talk a lot about planning for the future, and uh, we want to continue to elevate the arts and the cycling as a creating us as a destination, that that lifestyle of the people coming and they're looking for those type of things. But we also have some things that we're working on. Uh, we're hoping, and some of them are tourism related, some of them are really taking care of our people here locally. And I think one of them is how do we elevate our hospitality experiences? How do we create opportunities for our industry folks to create career pathways? So we want to work with the University of Arkansas and NWAC to create hospitality initiatives for those people in our industry, and how do we continue to support that? I think we're also looking at uh we do a project, Bentonville's best practices, and it's about telling our story and the work that our team has done, and our city team, and some of our stakeholders and other cities are looking at us at us as we're inspiring other people. And so we get to educate other people. So, how do we continue to elevate that program? And then I also think that um some of the work our team is doing from a marketing standpoint, we're really kind of trying to find really concrete ROI opportunities and that storytelling. And so it's really exciting. And then the medical and wellness that's gonna be coming, our sales team is seeing that as a huge opportunity to bring in what's that industry look like? How can we have meetings and conventions? How can we cater to that industry and support them? How do we create a wellness uh city, making our city a wellness destination from spas and experiences in the wellness industry? How do we continue to tell that story more unified, not just individual businesses, but more of a unified story? So we're really excited about that. I think we have numerous events that we're continuing to do. We're adding three or four new cycling events that will be coming out in the near future. We're looking at sporting events. So we're really trying to make sure that we have we're catering to the ones that we've had, but looking at how do we continue to elevate that in that way. I think uh one of the things I'm really excited about, um, because I think it shows that we're welcoming to all, is how do we elevate our accessibility storytelling? Um, because information is a barrier for people that they don't know that they can come here if they're being catered to. So, how do we make this experience in Bentonville top-notch for that accessibility? And that could be people in wheelchairs, that could be people that are blind, people that are uh hard of hearing. So, where what are we doing in our industry to support those folks that are looking at destinations to create a fun and exciting experience for all?

Beth Bobbitt:

Yeah.

Kalene Griffith:

And I think those are important for us. Um, I think those are the main things. I I do think one of the things our team is looking at is um how do those partnerships that we talk about? What are some of those new partnerships? Are there celebrities that we could be partnering with? Is there product launches that we could be doing? So our sales team, our community engagement, our marketing team, how are they all working together to create a new experience for others or telling our story in a little bit different way than we've told in the past? And I think those are all um amazing opportunities. Um and they continue to do that by with our uh public relations and our PR stuff that we're doing. They're telling that story in different ways. We've had some great stories in 2025, and I'm super excited for the 2026 um opportunity. I think our podcast continues to grow. Um so we're just looking at what are those stories we can tell, how can we tell them differently in 206? So we're really our team is really being super dynamic with that. Um, I think um we want to take um uh just expanding that opportunities that we're having.

Beth Bobbitt:

So and I think you all are being so thoughtful and obviously have a 360 view of this. Um nobody knows how fast Binville is growing as much as you do. And how do you think as we look ahead, we can sustain that growth while also keeping it special? So you know, that welcoming balance while also preserving what locals love about this place.

Kalene Griffith:

Yeah, I think one of the things that I talk a lot about is what makes us unique is the people. It's not about what's being built or what's not being built. It's the people and the experience that we create when people come here. And I think that's what makes us special. I mean, you can build a new building, but if you don't have the people there to making people feel welcome, you're not do we're not doing our job.

Beth Bobbitt:

That's right.

Kalene Griffith:

I think so, I think the hospitality is key to that. Yeah. And I think we can talk about, I mean, I get on the phone with a lot of people all across the United States and talk about growth and the challenges with growth. I would much rather have the growth challenges than the declining population challenges because that's a that's a whole different basket that we do not want to be in. We want to be in that creating that quality of life initiatives. And I I talk a lot about, you know, we want our kids to move back here so we can be part of their lives, be a grandparent to them, their kids. So it's creating those experiences for that quality of life initiatives, that's what's special here, but it's the people that are making it special. The experiences we're creating here are unique and like no other ones. And, you know, tearing up over here, it's it's emotional because it's personal to you, of course. Yeah, so I think those are the kind of things that we're doing. And I I think the one of the things that we are really adamant about when we talk about what makes us special, how do we make our community special? We have, you know, this last year we launched our destination master plan. Um, and what we're doing is we're looking at that as what are our gaps in our community? What are the things that we are not doing, but what are we doing well? And what do we need to be doing to cater to our locals as well as our visitors? And so that will be launched um hopefully second quarter. Okay. I'd love to say, uh, I'd love to say, oh, it's gonna be in April or May. I hope it's in April or May, but uh, we're gonna say second quarter. But that destination master plan is gonna help us keep that. We're we we did a resident engagement study. So we want to hear. What our residents are thinking about tourism. What are they thinking about our growth? And so then how do we sustain that you know Bentonville charm as well as know that we're gonna grow? We know the studies have shown we're gonna continue to grow. So, how do we do that in a unified voice and working together and making sure that we create the experiences for our locals as well as our visitors? Because locals will be able to sustain some of our businesses, but those visitors help sustain all of our businesses.

Beth Bobbitt:

Right. Yeah. I'm hearing a part two with this master plan when it comes out. We'll have to dig into that a little bit more. Thank you so much, Kayleen. Anything else you want to talk about that you're excited about? Past, present, future?

Kalene Griffith:

Well, I'm always excited. I think I don't I think we ought sometimes we talk about it's it takes a village, it takes a lot of people to make all of this work. And I, you know, we can't thank um everyone in our community. The buy-in for tourism and the buy-in for what we're doing is what is the game changer. Right. This we're all in the same book on the same page, and that's when it gets exciting for us, though. Because if we're on different pages, it's not going anywhere. Uh, our book is moving forward. We're gonna continue to grow and the momentum's moving, and we're gonna keep reading and telling the story. Yeah.

Beth Bobbitt:

Well, thank you for your leadership and thanks for coming on the podcast.

Kalene Griffith:

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Beth Bobbitt:

Ready to explore Bittenville? Check out visitbittenville.com for dining guides, event calendars, and trip planning tools. Follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter. Links are in the show notes. Thanks for listening to a new American town.