Our piece of the pie : Bikes, Blues and BBQ hits northwest Arkansas

BENTONVILLE — It's Bikes, Blues and BBQ time again, and that translates into a whole lot more than thousands of motorcycles rolling into the region en route to the festivities in Fayetteville.

For years, the largest charitable motorcycle rally in the nation has meant big-time hotel reservations and stays, not only in the host city and Washington County, but well into Benton County. The economyhas certainly weighed on attendees' minds more than ever over the past few years, but the bottom line is bikers still come in droves. And that translates into dollars that stay right here in northwest Arkansas when the thundering tailpipes roll out of town at the end of the weekend.

"We've been sitting with only about five rooms left for a few weeks now," Annette Nichols,general manager of the Hyatt Place in Rogers, said about advance reservations for this weekend. "I think all the hotels look forward to Bikes, Blues and BBQ, for obvious reasons.

"As we get to within 24 to 48 hours of the start of the event, we do tend to see some cancellations because rooms have opened up closer to Fayetteville, but we always end up seeing a big boost from this event, regardless."

There was some nervousness last year, as local hoteliers wondered how much the sluggish economy and escalating gas prices wouldaffect attendance at Bikes, Blues and BBQ. But hurricane-like storms to the south ended up washing out a popular Galveston, Texas, motorcycle rally, which sent thousands of additional bikers roaring into Fayetteville to get their fix.

With hotel traffic across the region being down, in most cases, around 20 percent or more to date, the 2009 installment of Bikes, Blues and BBQ will be welcomed back with open arms. Local hotel management will be watching the numbers closely, and possibly watching closer than ever a trend that has existed all along but has picked up considerable momentum over the past few years.

"A lot of people go to campsites," said Kim Eason, general manager of LaQuinta Inn and Suites in Bentonville. "There's beena lot more of that the past few years."

And that trend coincides with the fact that there are more campsites available across the region than ever before. In fact, three years ago, the Fayetteville Convention and Visitors Bureau opened up nearly 100 campsites at the Washington County Fairgrounds to Bikes, Blues and BBQ attendees. Those sites have been swept up in a hurry.

Meanwhile, campsites such as Southgate RV Park, in south Fayetteville, have been attracting the masses during festival weekend for years. Ownership at the Southgate RV Park said it's not uncommon for all 50 of its RV sites to be booked a year in advance. Meanwhile, that trend has not spilled over to all RV parks and other campsites in Benton County yet, as Prairie Creek Park, a popular camping destination with morethan 100 sites near Beaver Lake, still had more than 90 unreserved as of Wednesday afternoon.

How big a slice of the pie Benton County continues to see from Bikes, Blues and BBQ is something everyone with a stake in the hospitality industry would like to know. And what prediction you get depends on who you ask.

"I think people like to go down to Fayetteville for everything that's going on with Bikes, Blues and BBQ, but I also think this is a group that likes to get around and explore," said Kalene Griffith, president of the Bentonville Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Benton County will continue to benefit from that. They like to pull away from the events and see Bentonville and Eureka Springs. Harley Davidson has done a lot to establish different scenic routes in our area. I thinkHarley has designated eight routes in northwest Arkansas, so these people get around the entire area, visit our restaurants, shop and a lot more."

Manijula Chawla, general manager at Days Inn and Suites in Bentonville, isn't as worried about additional campsites cutting into local hotel reservation numbers as she is with the number of hotels that have sprung up in Benton County in recent years.

"I'd say we're down about 30 percent with where we were last year with reservations for Bikes, Blues and BBQ," Chawla said. "It's very good to grow, but I don't call what's happened with hotels here the last few years growth. You need to maintain a balance, and I think there's such an oversupply of rooms now, you can't fill them all. When a new hotel opens now, it's not growth.It's just taking away from or eliminating another."

Regardless of opinion, every hotel is ready to serve.

"We're ready for them," said Kim Lancaster, director of sales for Courtyard by Marriott of Bentonville, one of the northernmost hotels in Benton County. "We always collect all our towels with little rips or tears and get them ready to pass out to the bikers. Our parking lot is normally filled with motorcycles, and these people want to wipe down and shine their bikes."

And having a designated set of towels ready benefits the Courtyard in more ways than simply pleasing its guests.

"If we didn't do this, I think the towels in all our rooms would start disappearing," Lancaster said. "These people love their bikes. That's what this is all about."