Experience Fayetteville
Tourism Master Plan
OVERVIEW
Fayetteville, Arkansas—home to the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas and set against the backdrop of the scenic Ozark Mountains— has long been considered the unique cultural heart of northwest Arkansas. With thriving arts, music, and culinary scenes, cycling trails, and winding mountain roads, the city offers both the energy of a college town and the amenities of a growing urban center. To ensure Fayetteville continues to thrive as a destination that balances economic growth with resident quality of life, Experience Fayetteville engaged Coraggio to facilitate the design of a comprehensive Destination Master Plan for the next decade.
APPROACH
To Get Clear, Coraggio and its partners led a wide-ranging research and engagement effort to capture a full picture of Fayetteville’s tourism landscape. This included an infrastructure and competitive analysis conducted by Clarity of Place, a marketing and communications assessment conducted by Miles Partnership, a visitor profile study from Longwoods International, and Coraggio’s proprietary resilience assessment. More than 1,400 community touch points shaped the process—1,254 resident survey responses, 133 stakeholder survey responses, 3 listening sessions and 18 one-on-one interviews. These inputs highlighted Fayetteville’s strong local culture and industry foundation, the need for proactive growth management, opportunities to expand outdoor recreation and sports tourism and gaps in lodging and event facilities.
Coraggio then guided four planning sessions with the Core Planning Team. Stakeholders who had participated in the Get Clear phase were invited back to review findings, close the loop and help refine priorities. Through this collaborative Get Focused process, the team developed the plan’s vision, mission, position and imperatives, ensuring they reflected community values.
The process then moved to Get Moving—clarifying how the plan would be activated. The Core Planning Team paired each of the plan’s five imperatives with initiatives and measurable objectives to track progress. This ensured Fayetteville emerged with not only a vision but also a practical roadmap for bringing it to life. Together, these imperatives position Fayetteville to grow its visitor economy in a way that strengthens both community pride and resident quality of life.
OUTCOMES
A Destination Master Plan that articulates Fayetteville’s unique value proposition and provides a roadmap for long-term tourism development.
A practical roadmap with clear priorities, initiatives and performance measures that align stakeholders around shared priorities and ensure momentum from day one. .
Recommendations for strengthening public–private partnerships, expanding lodging and event capacity and growing Fayetteville’s role in outdoor recreation and sports tourism.
A guiding framework that enables the city to maximize its economic potential while enhancing community livability and sustaining its distinct character.
Jennifer Walker, Interim CEO | VP Finance, Experience Fayetteville
“Working with the Coraggio Group was a truly transformative experience for us. They helped us stay focused when we veered off course, and gently pulled us back when our ideas ran wild (in the best way). They brought energy, creativity, and tools that helped us stretch our thinking from the next two years to the next ten. Instead of handing us a cookie-cutter plan, they guided us to build our own—from vision to strategy—with encouragement every step of the way. We now have a plan that truly reflects our community’s voice and ambition. Coraggio didn’t just help us plan—they helped us dream big and believe in it.”
Ready to build a plan your community believes in?
Coraggio Group has guided 400+ strategic plans for destinations, DMOs, and communities across North America. If you're ready to move from vision to roadmap — we'd love to talk.