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More support came in from the state for the Amtrak stop and train station in Hope which will be added to the Amtrak October schedule as a “to be announced” stop. Renee Robison, group travel manager with Arkansas State Parks, talked in length, as did other presenters at a recent House and Senate interim committee meeting on transportation at the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope.
“What this is going to do for Hope is a couple of things; in the fall of next year, hopefully all of the appropriations will go through, and Hope’s President Bill Clinton’s Ist Home Museum and Boyhood Home will be designated as a national park service area. That will add to the other six national parks services that are in this state,” Robison said.
“With that being said, we also have several Arkansas State Parks that are in this region of the state that can be available to add to what the tourism dollar can do for this region of the state and they are in the Arkansas Great Southwest Section of the State,” she said.
Robison stressed that many exciting things are happening in the 12 regions of state. She gave the example of Ft. Smith opening the U.S. Marshal’s Museum in late 2013.
“And we have the Crystal Bridges Museum of Fine Art opening in Bentonville. That will be opening, being put together by the Walmart Foundation,” Robison said. “As I travel the country and represent the state, what is happening is people are looking for more economical ways to travel and Amtrak is one of those ways to travel.”
Her primary responsibility is motorcoach travel, according to Robison, but she says that travelers connect to and from Amtrak by motorcoach many times to reach their destinations.
“So Amtrak is a very, very important part of out future and for how we will get that traveler by group into the state. As far as the consumer market is concerned any stop you can make in Arkansas is going to be great,” Robison said.
Robison took time to thank the Amtrak officials who spoke at the meeting.
“We wanted to be here today to thank Amtrak for the consideration of making that stop in Hope. We know the city officials have worked very hard to make that happen and we look forward to being back in Hope to see that finish up,” she said.
State Representative David “Bubba” Powers, of Hope, also commented at the end of her presentation that he agreed linking parks and tourism with Amtrak is a way to “get involved with economic development in these communities.”
More support came in from the state for the Amtrak stop and train station in Hope which will be added to the Amtrak October schedule as a “to be announced” stop. Renee Robison, group travel manager with Arkansas State Parks, talked in length, as did other presenters at a recent House and Senate interim committee meeting on transportation at the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope.
“What this is going to do for Hope is a couple of things; in the fall of next year, hopefully all of the appropriations will go through, and Hope’s President Bill Clinton’s Ist Home Museum and Boyhood Home will be designated as a national park service area. That will add to the other six national parks services that are in this state,” Robison said.
“With that being said, we also have several Arkansas State Parks that are in this region of the state that can be available to add to what the tourism dollar can do for this region of the state and they are in the Arkansas Great Southwest Section of the State,” she said.
Robison stressed that many exciting things are happening in the 12 regions of state. She gave the example of Ft. Smith opening the U.S. Marshal’s Museum in late 2013.
“And we have the Crystal Bridges Museum of Fine Art opening in Bentonville. That will be opening, being put together by the Walmart Foundation,” Robison said. “As I travel the country and represent the state, what is happening is people are looking for more economical ways to travel and Amtrak is one of those ways to travel.”
Her primary responsibility is motorcoach travel, according to Robison, but she says that travelers connect to and from Amtrak by motorcoach many times to reach their destinations.
“So Amtrak is a very, very important part of out future and for how we will get that traveler by group into the state. As far as the consumer market is concerned any stop you can make in Arkansas is going to be great,” Robison said.
Robison took time to thank the Amtrak officials who spoke at the meeting.
“We wanted to be here today to thank Amtrak for the consideration of making that stop in Hope. We know the city officials have worked very hard to make that happen and we look forward to being back in Hope to see that finish up,” she said.
State Representative David “Bubba” Powers, of Hope, also commented at the end of her presentation that he agreed linking parks and tourism with Amtrak is a way to “get involved with economic development in these communities.”
