A few months back, I went to Bentonville, Arkansas, with a group of friends for a mountain bike trip. For years, I’d heard and read that it had become “The Mountain Biking Capital of the World.” To be honest, I was firing off eye-roll emojis about that, because I’ve ridden in Moab, Whistler, Tahoe and many more epic mountain bike Meccas.
But you know what? Bentonville responded to me with the zip-your-mouth emoji pretty fast on our first day of riding. They’ve built infrastructure that makes riding in and out of town on hundreds of miles of trails easy.
Paved trails, dirt trails, gravel trails, built-in creative features, jumps, pump tracks for kids, rocky cross-country trails, bike parks … every imaginable type of trail is mere minutes from downtown. And art is woven throughout all of it, whether it’s worked into the infrastructure or sprinkled throughout more remote trails. It’s flat-out amazing riding and an amazingly creative feeling place.
Literally by day two, I was declaring to my friends, “I think Bentonville IS the mountain bike capital of the world.” Never have I seen such a commitment to a positioning by a destination with both infrastructure, local spirit and marketing. It is such an incredible example of using a public/private partnership to put a stake in the ground (and a lot of shovels) to confidently build a personality, a position and be known for something specific far and wide.
We’re destination positioning experts at Noble, and I’ve never seen anything like it.
When I got back to work, I annoyed everyone in our company by going on about it endlessly. And I decided we HAD to talk to the destination marketing and management team behind this magical place. So we reached out to Visit Bentonville’s Kalene Griffith, their President/CEO, and asked if they would do a Q&A with us.
Well, thankfully, she is just as friendly and welcoming as their city and was happy to oblige us with an in-depth Q&A about the story of Bentonville, Visit Bentonville and their path to becoming known as the Mountain Bike Capital of the World. Enjoy!
Bentonville wasn’t always the ‘Mountain Biking Capital of the World.’ How did that identity take shape?
Visit Bentonville was founded in 1996, and our trail system began with just five miles in 2007. We expanded by 18 miles in 2009 and added another 30 miles by 2016. The identity of “Mountain Biking Capital of the World” officially took shape in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of community leaders met regularly to align on promotional strategy. As Northwest Arkansas gained attention for its outdoor experiences, it became the right moment to boldly define who we are.
You’ve been at Visit Bentonville since the early days of the biking movement. What role did tourism leadership play in turning Bentonville into a cycling destination?
Visit Bentonville has been a driving force in the success of the cycling community, not just by supporting the infrastructure but by telling the story to the rest of the world.
In the beginning, many people were saying, “If you build it, they will come,” which does not always hold true. Many destinations built trails long before us, but they remain undiscovered. Visit Bentonville leadership positioned Bentonville as a cycling destination by consistently sharing our story, our people and our progress with influencers, paid advertising, speaking at conferences, recruiting cycling events and meetings, and welcoming other communities to learn from our approach.
We were instrumental in meeting with community leaders, businesses and organizations to share the benefits of cycling for the city and tourism. We developed bike-friendly guidelines for local businesses, helping them understand how to welcome and support cyclists. We took a very hands-on approach to promote a cycling culture. Early on, we worked closely with the City of Bentonville’s transportation team to create sharrows (painted road symbols indicate a lane is shared by both cars and bicycles), since we didn’t yet have bike lanes, with a shared understanding that bike lanes were our long-term goal.
Building alignment across a city isn’t easy. How did you get so many leaders on the same page around biking?
Those weekly leadership meetings were transformative. Beginning in 2007, we met every Monday for an hour to align on community initiatives, and we had the opportunity to be out in front with trail development and storytelling. The collaborative spirit created strong coordination, awareness and momentum. In the past year, we’ve shifted to meeting twice a month, but the structure remains impactful for our community, with a focus on development, education, tourism, government, corporate, foundation and growth. These meetings are crucial for keeping all leaders informed and aligned to support the goals and strategies of our city and organizations.
The meetings began with the Chamber, Visit Bentonville and Downtown Bentonville Inc., eventually expanding to include the Mayor, the Superintendent of Schools, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Amazeum, the local airport, Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation. The commitment to a shared vision was crucial.
Brand Strategy and Discipline
In a tourism industry that often wants to be everything to everyone, how do you maintain the discipline to go all in on mountain biking and art? Do you recommend that other communities lean hard into a focused strength for positioning?
Visit Bentonville’s success lies in strategic focus. While it’s tempting in tourism to try to be everything to everyone, we’ve stayed disciplined and leaned into what we do best: mountain biking, the arts and culinary. These aren’t just attractions, they’re part of our community’s identity and passion. We’ve worked to bring them together through a trail network that’s truly unique—not just in how it connects the city, but in how it offers a full progression of experiences from beginner to advanced.
It’s easy to dilute your message, but when you focus on your strengths, your story resonates more deeply with visitors, media and partners.
We have limited dollars, so it’s important to be strategic and clear in our messaging in order to get the biggest impact out of our investments. Our team focuses on nearby drive markets as well as direct flight markets, especially those with existing cycling enthusiasm.
What advice do you have for other destinations that don’t have a “thing” yet?
People are looking for authentic, honest and deliverable experiences, so avoid overpromising. Identify your assets and use those as your foundation, then rally community partners to support a shared vision. We’ve found that success comes from clarity of purpose, strong collaboration and long-term commitment to a shared goal.
What role has storytelling played in your success?
As tourism in Bentonville evolved over the last twenty years, we understood that shaping our community through passion, authenticity, and compelling and honest storytelling would be a positive strategy. We wanted to share the local story through our channels so visitors or potential visitors would resonate with Bentonville. You have to see yourself in our story.
Our team spoke at conferences and summits. We invite people into our community to hear from our experts in our city on trail development, economic impact and storytelling.
We are proud of our community, which has cultivated and adopted a strong identity for both locals and visitors. One of our favorite compliments is, “People are so nice and friendly in Bentonville.” After people visit, they are our biggest supporters. What we are most proud of is that our visitors are inspired by the experience and are loyal; we see them often.
Infrastructure and Execution
How important has trail connectivity and accessibility within the city been to your success, versus just the quality or challenge level of individual trails?
Connectivity and accessibility have been the key to Bentonville’s success story. It’s unique, and it’s what makes us a premier cycling destination. In many other places, to get to the trail, you have to get in a vehicle and drive.
The intentionality that makes our community a standout is how biking is integrated into the urban environment and the way it flows through neighborhoods, attractions and the downtown area. Families, or those who aren’t experienced bikers, can enjoy the paved trails and still have a great experience. Another unique quality of our trail system is the range of difficulties. Everyone from beginner to advanced mountain bikers can find a trail that matches their ability level.
What specific programs or initiatives helped foster this cycling culture across businesses and residents?
The innovation that happens in Bentonville allows individuals and businesses to be creative. The transformation into being recognized as a cycling destination did not happen by chance. There were strategic investments, grassroots efforts and public-private partnerships that are all key to our cycling culture.
Here are a few key programs and initiatives that created a strong cycling culture for locals and visitors:
- Women of Oz: A grassroots initiative with the goal of breaking down barriers for women in mountain biking with weekly and monthly rides and education.
- Bike Friendly Business Certification: Many local businesses sought this recognition from the League of American Bicyclists, making cycling amenities like bike racks, showers and repair stations more commonplace.
- Pedal it Forward (Formerly Bike NWA): An advocacy group has played a key role in community engagement, safety campaigns and organizing open-street events to promote active transportation.
- National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA): Has been instrumental in cultivating a youth-driven cycling culture for Bentonville emerging which has also spawned their parents to get involved.
- People for Bikes Office: Bentonville’s involvement with national advocacy groups like People for Bikes helped shape policy and infrastructure with an office in Bentonville.
- USA Cycling: The national governing body for competitive cycling, has been increasingly involved in Bentonville in recent years, recognizing it as a strategic location for an office as well as development for both recreational and competitive cyclists.
- Master Bike Ped Plan: City planning incorporated cycling infrastructure into broader urban development—bike lanes, signage and intersection upgrades.
- Safe Routes to School Initiative: a concentrated effort to create safe routes as well as recruitment of volunteers to lead the program.
- Visit Bentonville Tourism Strategy: focus on cycling storytelling and recruitment of cycling events as well as meetings.
- Art on the Trails Initiative: The trail networks include public art, making cycling a cultural as well as recreational activity. Local art integrates bikes into the urban visual identity of Bentonville, further normalizing cycling.
- Bentonville Moves Coalition: A community-driven alliance comprises local businesses, schools, civic leaders and residents, all collaborating to make Bentonville safer and more connected for people who walk, bike or use other forms of active transportation.
- Walmart Home Office Initiative: Walmart has launched an ambitious initiative aimed at transforming commuting habits among its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters staff. The company’s goal is to have 10% of its approximately 15,000 local employees regularly commute to work using alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles—such as biking, walking, carpooling, or public transit—by the time its new corporate campus is fully operational in 2025.
- Trailblazers: The organization has developed over 300 miles of multi-use trails, including the OZ Trails network, aiming to promote cycling, walking and active transportation in the region.
- Bike Racks Accessibility: Businesses purchasing or requesting bike racks in front of restaurants and retail.
- Bike Storage: Hotels adding bike storage or lockers for guests. The success of having a safe place to store bikes for guests was a game changer.
Art feels inseparable from the Bentonville experience. Did that identity start with Crystal Bridges, or was public art already part of the community’s vision?
Access to art is in the forefront of Alice Walton’s vision for Crystal Bridges, bringing an art collection of its scale to Northwest Arkansas. City leadership and community partners saw that vision and worked to make public art a part of the downtown experience as well as trail experiences.
Art has always been important in our region and in the heartland, so having a beautiful space that’s dedicated to art in our city is very meaningful. Our early conversations about public art focused on the idea that if we successfully incorporated art throughout the city, people would be more inclined to stay and explore instead of moving on to the next town right away. We’ve been lucky enough to have both public and private parties make significant investments in the arts in Bentonville over the years.
The reignited Bentonville Public Art Advisory Board was key to the vision.
The advisory board had a few key initiatives early on:
- Bring public art to public spaces with temporary art for short periods
- Create a toolkit to encourage developers to integrate art into their projects.
- Future strategic visioning for public art within the city
Visit Bentonville’s budget grew to specifically incorporate public art. We started at zero and now have 170 pieces of public art, including murals, sculptures and neon. A few years after we began the initiative, the city designated money in their own budget to help support public art.
Art has also been woven into the very experience of the trail itself. While the masterplan guided trail development, features like The Hub and The Castle showcase how public art has been built into the riding experience, placing sculptures and creative structures both along and within the trails to immerse riders in culture as well as nature.
How much of your tourism is driven by visitors interested in just mountain biking?
We don’t have an exact percentage for mountain biking-specific visitors, but we know it’s a key driver. Our visitor base is a healthy mix of business travelers, Walmart employees and vendors, and leisure guests drawn by cycling, the arts, culinary experiences, sporting events and meetings.
Last year, our trails saw more than 3 million rides. That figure isn’t unique visitors. It reflects total trail uses, so if someone rides twice a week, each ride is counted. We also know that over a million people visited Crystal Bridges in the same time period.
What we do know: biking is a big part of why people come here. Bentonville is on many riders’ bucket lists, and we see strong return visitation tied to our cycling culture. While we don’t yet have comprehensive data, sampling and visitor feedback clearly show that mountain biking plays a major role in our tourism economy.
How do you balance preservation, access and experience?
Bentonville balances preservation, access and experience through ordinances to protect the historic downtown, stewardship of natural spaces, and educational efforts that ensure accessibility and inclusivity for our trails and parks. We also have fabulous programs for maintenance and cleanliness. Our city sees cleanliness as a community value in all day-to-day operations.
Economic and Social Impact
What drives Bentonville’s high local sentiment for biking?
The initial vision for trails was for talent recruitment; quality of life is key to making a community a destination for people to want to live there as well as visit. People don’t travel for just 5 miles of trails. We’ve found that destinations need at least 10, and ideally 15 or more, to attract riders. Just as important is offering a variety of trail types: green, blue and black. That diversity keeps visitors engaged and encourages longer stays.
Do you have any of the affordable housing issues that seem to affect destinations like yours, which experience a renaissance and all that comes with it, like an influx of Airbnbs, rising property values, etc.?
We do have affordable housing challenges, but our leadership continues to be creative. It does impact the hospitality industry service. Our quality-of-life experiences are a value for families to choose our community, as well as the accessibility to our trails and art experiences. We are a very rideable and walkable city. We want to create experiences for families and individuals. Many of our experiences are free. People are looking for places to live that have a high quality of life, top education, and quality health care, which then creates economic development opportunities.
What do you say to other tourism leaders who say, “Yeah, but you have Walmart money”?
Walmart does not invest in trails; the Waltons have invested in our trails as well as our cities. It is joint private and public funding that is key to our success. Our community leaders have seen the value of our trails and connectivity. Our communities in Northwest Arkansas (NWA) continue to invest in paved trails to connect with single-track trails. It is key that neighborhoods can get to trails easily and safely. Also, in Bentonville, we did not have protected bike lanes on our roads until four years ago, and it has been a huge asset for our community. We adopted the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, known as the “Connecting Bentonville Plan,” in 2021, which has been key to being a top cycling destination.
Growth, Events and Partnerships
Are you seeing a lot of groups come to do meetings + biking events?
Yes, and it really started in 2016 when we hosted the IMBA World Summit. That was a game changer. Industry leaders came, experienced our community and then shared what they saw. It showed us that our sweet spot was attracting groups who would genuinely enjoy what we offer.
Since then, we’ve focused on recruiting meetings, conferences and events that fit our outdoor lifestyle, especially those centered on cycling. We’re strategic, competitive and aggressive in bringing in groups that align with our community and calendar.
Do you have midweek and shoulder season struggles like other destinations? If so, what do you do to combat that? If not, what advice do you have?
We are fortunate to have both business travelers during the week and leisure travelers on weekends, so we truly get the best of both worlds.
That said, we do see slower months in January, February and August. To address that, we’ve been working to raise awareness in northern markets, letting potential visitors know they can ride year-round here. While it’s snowing up north, they can be out on the trails enjoying the Natural State, Arkansas.
Where are your main markets from?
Our drive market is the states that border Arkansas: Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas and Tennessee. Our emerging markets include our direct flight markets: Denver, Chicago, Dallas, and the outliers of Nashville and Orlando.
Did you partner closely with the airport to gain such good access, or did that really come as a result of it being Walmart’s headquarters?
The closest airport is Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA), which originally focused on business travel. When it opened in 1998, it was backed by Walmart, Tyson and JB Hunt, who recognized the need for greater accessibility to support their headquarters and operations.
In the early years, leisure travel wasn’t a major focus. But as interest in Bentonville’s cycling and arts scene grew, we started to see more direct flights added. While that shift was partly organic, we’ve also partnered directly with airlines on marketing efforts. We view those collaborations as mutually beneficial, as they expand access while helping airlines tap into our growing visitor market.
Measurement and Management
With so much earned media coming your way thanks to your clear positioning, how do you prioritize your marketing investments?
We have limited dollars and are very strategic with those dollars. We have paid, organic, and earned media that support our strategy. We work to share the dollars with arts and cycling, and also create joint lifestyle experience ads that incorporate arts, cycling and culinary experiences for comprehensive outreach.
How do you use data, especially when justifying investments in infrastructure like trails?
Data informs every part of our strategy. We rely on a range of research tools to guide our decisions. Here are just a few we use regularly:
- Placer.ai is a location intelligence and foot traffic analytics platform that provides detailed insights into physical places using anonymized mobile location data. It helps businesses, commercial real estate professionals and local governments analyze visitor behavior.
- Zartico Destination Operating System (DOS) is a data intelligence platform designed specifically for destination marketing organizations (DMOs). It integrates a wide array of data sources—including mobility data, spending behavior, events, weather and flight information—into a single, interactive dashboard. The platform helps DMOs like Visit Bentonville make informed, data-driven decisions about tourism strategy, marketing campaigns and visitor engagement by visualizing real-time, insights and long-term trends.
- STR and Key Data provides comprehensive insights into the performance of the hotel industry and short term lodging. It includes key metrics such as occupancy rate, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR).
- Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It helps website owners understand how visitors interact with their site, including metrics like page views, bounce rates, user demographics and traffic sources.
- Our agency, Madden Media manages our digital campaigns as well as our social channels to measure our reach, demographics and traffic.
- Destination International provides the Economic Impact Calculator, a tool used to estimate the financial effects of an event, project, or organization on a local economy. It calculates factors like jobs created, income generated and tax revenue by analyzing spending patterns and multiplier effects in the region.
How do you manage communication and marketing when you have so many ‘new’ things happening in Bentonville?
It is a challenge daily.
Visit Bentonville’s communication team manages the storytelling and marketing around our growth by maintaining a strategy, leveraging strong partnerships with local organizations, and utilizing multiple channels (social media, PR and events) to highlight new developments. We stay in our lane with the focus on cycling, arts and culinary. We sprinkle in music and aviation. Medical tourism with a focus on mental and physical wellness could be a good logical step that fits in well with our existing arts and cycling messaging.
We understand that we have to stay agile by consistently updating messaging and visuals to reflect what’s fresh, ensuring they capture attention while aligning with our evolving brand identity. Bentonville’s partnerships are key to our ability to stay in the know and support our community. Our initiatives are creating a positive economic impact for our city businesses.
Forward-Looking Vision
What’s next from a tourism standpoint?
Health and wellness tourism is a natural next step for us. With the launch of the Whole Health Institute, the Alice Walton School of Medicine and the new Cardiac Hospital, we see a strong opportunity to connect medical innovation with our existing strengths in cycling and the arts. These pillars all align with the Heartland Whole Health approach, which prioritizes physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing. Our existing infrastructure—from trail networks to cultural experiences—positions us to support this expansion and attract meetings and visitors focused on healthy lifestyles.
What practical steps did transitioning from a destination marketing organization to a destination management organization involve, and what advice would you give to other DMOs looking to make this shift?
As a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), our original goal was to attract visitors. But early in my time at Visit Bentonville, I saw that we could do more; we could help shape the visitor experience, enhance community assets and support smart growth that benefits both residents and tourists. Our first step was educating local leaders and organizations, not just about how we promote the city, but about how we could align with and support their broader strategies.
Could you elaborate on your ‘Bentonville’s Best Practices’ program and what makes these visits effective for knowledge sharing?
Bentonville is known for its best practices in arts, tourism, economic development and cycling. Other cities are aspiring to implement the same strategies we have, so we host those community leaders in an effort to share what we’ve learned. After discussing their goals, we’re able to plan a 1-3 day event for them that includes presentations and tours tailored to their specific needs.
Our goal is for these visitors to learn from our leaders and experience the ‘secret sauce’ of Bentonville: a mix of people, mindset and collaboration, all grounded in clear processes and outcomes. All of this is very intentional.
One person said once, “We do not just consult, we co-create with our partners.” We hope this inspires others. We believe that our everyday mindset is what makes our destination successful. We are committed to always evolving through data, feedback and community input, which is what sets us apart. A key part of our success is that we share it; no one individual is leading the effort, it is a team of folks, and we hope that comes off when we host Best Practices.
Have you seen another destination that has gone all in on something like Bentonville has? Who is your aspirational destination?
There are numerous cities that have identified their assets and successfully gone all in on their messaging. Asheville, Moab, Bend and Crested Butte are all examples of other cities that we keep track of and learn from.
Tourism is a friendly competition. We share our successes so others can learn and grow. The key is knowing we can’t copy another city. We have to find what works for our community, our assets and our leadership. That said, we absolutely look to other cities for inspiration, especially in areas like art, culinary, aviation and music.
Meet Kalene Griffith
Kalene Griffith serves as the CEO/President of Visit Bentonville, where she is passionate about sharing the vibrancy of Bentonville with the community and the world. Since taking on this role in 2005, she has been dedicated to promoting Bentonville as a premier destination, celebrating its dynamic arts scene, world-class cycling experiences, and unwavering commitment to hospitality.
With a career rooted in tourism and hospitality, Kalene has embraced every role—from lifeguarding and special events to storytelling for Bentonville. Her career has instilled in her the ability to evaluate challenges, celebrate successes, and drive meaningful impact through her work. Her passion for tourism began at just 14 years old, and she has since gained invaluable experience across parks and recreation, retail, hotels, restaurants, special event companies, Walt Disney World, and the YMCA.
Under her leadership, Bentonville has flourished as a hub for art, culture, and cycling, attracting visitors from around the world. She believes in the power of hospitality—not just as a transaction, but as a way of welcoming that transforms every guest who experiences Bentonville.
Kalene’s influence extends beyond Bentonville, as she has been appointed by the Governor to the Arkansas State Parks and Tourism Commission (serving a second term and as past chairman). She also serves on numerous boards, including the Arkansas Hospitality Association Travel Council, Arkansas Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus, Southeast Tourism Society, Bentonville Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Bentonville, Inc., Bentonville Public Arts Advisory Board, and the Amazeum Children’s Museum.
Her dedication has earned her recognition as the 2020 Tourism Person of the Year, a 40 Under 40 honoree by the Arkansas Business Journal, and a recipient of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal C-Suite Award.
