Joe David Rice

Joe David Rice is director of tourism for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism in Little Rock. Rice has held this position since 1987. The department has sixty-five employees.

Rice approved the printing of 90,000 copies of the William J. Clinton Arkansas Passport, a brochure touting the sites important in the life of Bill Clinton. Said Rice in 2006, "Since the opening of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, our state has been attracting a large number of tourists who are interested in Bill Clinton. There was clearly a need for a comprehensive guide to enable tourists to experience for themselves President Clinton's roots in Arkansas, and we were excited when our partners in the presidential cities of Hope, Hot Springs, Fayetteville and Little Rock came up with this idea." Passports can be "stamped" at the Hope Visitor Center and Museum, Hot Springs High School, the Hot Springs restaurant McClard's, the Clinton House Museum in Fayetteville, and the Governor's Mansion, Arkansas State Capitol, and Old State House Museum in Little Rock.

Rice is 2003 State Tourism Director of the Year.

References

• "Passport to Clinton Sites Prepared for Visitors to Arkansas," Hot Springs Village Voice, July 26, 2006.