Those wanting to make reservations soon for any of the Arkansas State Parks will need to do so this week, as the system will be down the rest of the month to prepare for a new system.
The state has been using two separate systems to make various reservations at Arkansas State Parks, including at local parks such as Devil's Den, Queen Wilhelmina and Mount Magazine. Starting next week, the state will streamline those systems into one, which will eliminate the need for a call center separate from the parks.
To combine two massive reservation systems, the reservation process will shut down from July 15-29. No reservations will be taken during that time. Guests coming to the park during that period who want accommodations will have to ask at the front desk, and requests will be honored when accommodations are available.
Reservations will need to be in person for same-day accommodations. Future bookings will not be available during this time.
The downtime will give state employees time to enter scheduled reservation data by hand to eliminate any problems, such as double-booking. All confirmed reservations made before next week will still be valid.
Once the system is up starting July 29, guests will be able to call the parks directly to make reservations, or they can make them online.
“I think it will be a more stable reservation system than we’ve had in the past,” said Arkansas State Parks Marketing and Revenue Manager Joe Jacobs. “It will be a lot smoother for the customers and will improve their guest experience.”
“We won’t be utilizing a call center going forward,” said Jacobs. “Once we go live with the new reservation system, guests will call the park directly. This will allow guests to receive the most accurate and timely information about the park when making their reservation.”