SILOAM SPRINGS -- The Arkansas Welcome Center opened its doors to local and out of state travelers.
The welcome center opened June 24 so the staff can get reacquainted with their work environment before officially opening Monday, according to Betty Ross, manager of the center.
On Monday, Arkansas Tourism sent out a newss release stating all of the welcome centers in Arkansas are open for travelers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
Travelers who wish to enter the building must wear a face covering and maintain the 6-foot distance from other people, Ross said. Maintaining the 6-foot requirement would be difficult given the size of the building, but the welcome center is usually not busy, Ross said.
"We're normally not that busy unless it's a bus tour, but they are not coming in (right now)," Ross said.
Ross said the state is also asking people who have a cough or fever not to come in. An ArDot maintenance worker keeps the building and small park clean, plus cleans the restrooms every 30 minutes, Ross said.
There have been other changes to the welcome center, Ross said. People may now only enter the restroom from the outside door, coffee isn't available to travelers and the lobby now has hand sanitizer stations, she said.
"We're just trying real hard to keep everything as clean as we can keep it," Ross said.
The welcome center still offers travelers free Wi-Fi, brochures for attractions all over the state, magazines and state maps as well as free city maps for local communities, she said.
Ross said she is happy to have people coming back in for information. So far the welcome center has been slow, but Ross attributes it to many tourist attractions still being closed.
One of the things Ross would like to see is more people from the community come in to see what the center has to offer.
"There are lots of local people who don't know what we do and we have lots of information," Ross said.
Arkansas has 14 welcome centers situated on major highways and interstates coming into the state, according to the press release.
Welcome center staff share their expertise of Arkansas with more than 1 million travelers annually, the press release states. All welcome centers are staffed by certified U.S. Travel Association travel counselors, the press release states.Si
Marc Hayot may be reached by email at [email protected].