Discover Fort Smith

What Discover Fort Smith does

Discover Fort Smith is the official tourism marketing organization for the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas, operating under its legal name, Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau. The organization runs a destination marketing website (discoverfortsmith.com) and supporting digital channels that aggregate and promote local attractions, events, dining, accommodations, and outdoor activities for prospective visitors. Its content portfolio includes a locally-authored blog, an email newsletter ('Trip Ideas'), a podcast series, and mailed and digital visitor guides, all offered free of charge to end users. The bureau serves four primary visitor segments: individual tourists, meeting and convention planners, sports planners, and group travel organizers, and it co-hosts signature events such as the Steel Horse Rally, Peacemaker Music Festival, Fall Festival + Oktoberfest, and the Christmas Winter Wonderland in partnership with Main Street Fort Smith, the National Park Service, the Downtown Business Association, and local museums.

The underlying technology is a standard destination-marketing CMS (assets are served via Simpleview's CDN), with no proprietary technology stack, no mobile app, no public API, and no AI/ML capabilities disclosed. Distribution is multi-channel: a self-serve website with itinerary-building tools, social media (#DiscoverFortSmith), email, podcast, physical visitor guides, and direct outreach to group, sports, and meeting planners. The bureau does not sell to visitors; its core services are free, and pricing is not publicly disclosed.

The business model is a publicly funded, tax-base model rather than a commercial one. Operations, marketing, and capital projects are funded entirely through a 3% lodging tax collected from hotels and accommodations in Fort Smith, making the organization a quasi-governmental municipal entity under the authority of the City of Fort Smith. There are no private investors, no parent company, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity. The bureau employs 1-10 staff and operates from a single headquarters at 524 Garrison Avenue, Suite 21, Fort Smith, Arkansas, having relocated there in 2024. Recent capital activity includes a planned ~$110,000, nearly 60-foot LED signage installation announced in February 2026 with completion targeted for late March 2026.

Name

Discover Fort Smith

Legal name

Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau

Website

https://discoverfortsmith.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Discover Fort Smith is the official Convention & Visitors Bureau for Fort Smith, Arkansas, promoting the destination through its website, blog, podcast, and visitor guides. Funded by a 3% lodging tax, it serves leisure travelers, meeting planners, sports planners, and group travel organizers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tourism Marketing Services

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers) (THAAAGAD)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Visitor information
• Tourism promotion
• Event marketing
• Convention bureau

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Smith

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Lodging Tax Revenue: The agency is funded through a 3% lodging tax collected from hotels and accommodations in the Fort Smith area. This tax revenue supports the tourism agency's operations, marketing initiatives, and infrastructure projects such as tourism signage.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Discover Fort Smith operates the official destination marketing portal for the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau, providing visitor information on local attractions, events, dining, and accommodations, and supporting trip-planning through a website, blog, podcast, email newsletter, and printed/digital visitor guides. Its commercial offerings include dedicated outreach services for meeting/convention planners, sports planners, and group travel organizers, delivered through the bureau's direct sales team and partnership programs.

Product overview

Discover Fort Smith operates a tourism marketing website (discoverfortsmith.com) for the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau. The platform serves as a digital hub for tourism promotion, providing visitor information about events, attractions, accommodations, dining, and trip planning services for Fort Smith, Arkansas. No distinct branded products, modules, or separately named product offerings are identified in the source material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Main Street Fort SmithcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain Street Fort Smith is a key partner in promoting downtown events and the Entertainment District. They co-sponsor the historic trolley rides during Fall Festival and collaborate on events like the Levitt Amp Fort Smith Music Series and Downtown Pub Crawl.
• National Park ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe National Park Service manages the Fort Smith National Historic Site, which is a key attraction promoted by Discover Fort Smith. The partnership involves co-marketing of historical sites and joint promotion of events like Fall Festival.
• Downtown Business AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with the Downtown Business Association for promotion of the Entertainment District and downtown commerce, including the annual Christmas Parade on Garrison Avenue.
• Local MuseumscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with local museums including U.S. Marshals Museum, Fort Smith Museum of History, Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, and Fort Smith Trolley Museum to promote cultural tourism and coordinate events like free museum admission days.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Brand USA: The national destination marketing organization for the United States. Comparable in mission of promoting tourism through marketing campaigns, partnerships, and content, though operating at a national level with public-private funding.
• Visit California: The official state-level tourism organization for California. Comparable in mission (destination promotion through content marketing, events, and partnerships) though operating at state rather than city scale.
• Choose Chicago: The official DMO for Chicago. Comparable as a major-city CVB with extensive event, convention, and visitor marketing infrastructure, serving as a scaled-up model of the municipal DMO model that Discover Fort Smith operates.
• Visit Philadelphia: The official tourism marketing organization for Philadelphia. Comparable as a municipal DMO promoting historical sites, arts, dining, and events to leisure travelers and convention/sports planners through digital content and visitor guides.
• Visit Denver: The official Convention & Visitors Bureau for Denver, Colorado. Comparable as a larger municipal CVB operating a multi-channel content, events, and convention/sports marketing platform targeting leisure and group visitors.

Direct peers

• Visit Hot Springs: The official tourism organization for Hot Springs, Arkansas. Directly comparable as an Arkansas municipal/regional DMO focused on a single destination's attractions, lodging, and events, supported by tourism-related taxes.
• Visit Tampa Bay: The official tourism DMO for the Tampa Bay region. Comparable as a mid-size U.S. city/regional DMO promoting attractions, dining, lodging, and events through content marketing, visitor guides, and event sponsorship with lodging-tax funding.
• Explore Northwest Arkansas: The official tourism brand for Northwest Arkansas, covering Bentonville, Rogers, Fayetteville, and surrounding areas. Comparable as an Arkansas regional DMO promoting outdoor recreation, arts (Crystal Bridges), and events through lodging-tax-supported marketing.
• Visit Little Rock: The official Convention & Visitors Bureau for Little Rock, Arkansas - the state's capital and largest city. Directly comparable as a municipal DMO/CVB promoting an Arkansas city's attractions, events, dining, and lodging to visitors through similar channels.

Regional players

• Visit Tulsa: The official DMO for Tulsa, Oklahoma - a comparable mid-size Southern/Midwest city. Comparable as a municipal CVB promoting arts, music, dining, and outdoor recreation through similar content marketing and lodging-tax support.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/discoverfortsmith
• Facebookfacebook.com/DiscoverFortSmith
• Xx.com/ExpFortSmith
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/discover-fort-smith

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Discover Fort Smith