With most people now seeing COVID in the rear-view mirror, tourism in Arizona is starting to come back.
But now the state agency charged with promoting it may have a new hurdle: The daily national news reports about how hot it is here.
New figures from a study commissioned by the Arizona Office of Tourism find that overnight visitors spent $28.1 billion last year. Thatβs up about $4.5 billion from the year before.
Even discounting rampant inflation, the study produced by Dean Runyan Associates says that means a $1.3 billion increase in real dollars, about a 5% increase.
But the state continues to struggle to get travel back to pre-pandemic levels. The report says when inflation is factored in, the true quality of goods and services purchased by travelers still lags 2019 levels by about 6.3%.
Inflation also is reflected in the data about the total tax revenues generated from tourism. The nearly $4 billion generated in 2022 is just 7.2% above what it was three years earlier, far less than the 8.0% inflation between just 2021 and 2022.
And while the report says tourism directly generated 179,000 jobs last year, that still is below the number of people working in the industry three years earlier.
Still, Lisa Urias, Office of Tourism director, thinks all that deficit will be erased this year.
Thatβs guaranteed partly, she said, by the fact that Arizona hosted the Super Bowl. Add that to typical years, said Urias, and the state should be back on track.
But now, her agency is having to deal with publicity about the extreme heat wave, which could affect the desire of people to come here.
The national media is paying particular attention to the records being set, not only on individual daily highs and the number of days in a row the thermometer tops 110 but also the number of nights the mercury does not drop below 90.
βIt is disturbing,ββ Urias said.
But Urias, who was at a conference last week where climate change was a focus, said itβs important to remember itβs not just Arizona thatβs affected.
βEurope is on fire, too, right now,ββ she said. βItβs crazy. But itβs something weβre all going to have to adjust to and figure out how to manage.ββ
In-state getaways to Flagstaff, cooler areas
Even with all the national attention to the triple-digit numbers, though, she said she doesnβt believe it will cause long-term damage to the message that Arizona is a desirable destination.
Her office is focusing its message on the fact the state is more than just the Phoenix area thatβs been making the news. Thereβs Flagstaff and the rest of northern Arizona, for example.
βWe do a lot of campaigns to help promote those regions as well,ββ Urias said.
She said the state also provides direct grant dollars to local communities to do their own advertising. βThey know their markets,ββ she said. βThey know whoβs coming to Arizona,ββ as well as those already living here βwho might be looking to get awayβ on an in-state trip.
βPeople get away from the heat, say, for a couple of weeks or a week and spend money,ββ Urias said. βThat counts, too.ββ
On the other side of the equation, Urias said her office doesnβt waste its money on trying to convince those from the rest of the country that they should visit the desert in the summer.
βWe donβt push real hard in Phoenix in the summer,ββ she said. βPeople will just say, βOh, no, you canβt go to Phoenix in the summer.β ββ
But spending to promote Arizona does not dry up entirely in the summer, said Josh Coddington, the officeβs public information officer.
βWe also want to at least stay in touch with them, or at least have a presence, because the summerβs going to end, and people are going to travel,ββ he said. βWe want to stay in peopleβs minds because if they donβt see our Arizona ad when theyβre searching for a vacation, they might see somebody elseβs.β
Promoting international tourism
The new report shows that spending by international tourists in particular took a big hit during the pandemic, plummeting in 2020 to just 10% of pre-COVID figures. And while there has been some recovery, it still amounts to just 9% of total spending.
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Of those who came, Mexico and Canada were the largest share of foreign visitors, followed by the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
One of the biggest losses was in visitors from China, Urias said, blaming that in particular on the pandemic. But she remains optimistic they will come back.
βWeβre all maintaining our presence and trying to make sure that we are open here, that we welcome them,ββ Urias said. βBut itβs definitely a lag.ββ
COVID may not be the threat it once was. But the current frosty political relations between the United States and China have replaced it in some ways. Urias said sheβs hoping to steer clear of that.
βTourism tries really had to kind of stay out of the fray,ββ she said. Still, Urias said, itβs often difficult to keep the issues separate. βI donβt think it precludes Chinese visitors from coming to the U.S.,ββ she said. βAt least, we hope it doesnβt.ββ
Preparations are being made, however, to deal with such issues.
βWe definitely do look at other emerging markets for us in Asia and elsewhere,ββ Urias said. βWeβve been exploring Indian markets and Korea, Japan.ββ
The state has also been active in recruiting visitors from Australia.
Most visitors from the U.S.
But the biggest share of tourism dollars comes from a domestic audience.
About 30% are from Arizonans themselves, looking for vacations close to home, with the balance coming from visitors from the other 49 states.
Among those, Californians made up the largest share of tourists by far, followed by Texans, then New Yorkers, Floridians and Colorado residents.
Urias said the state has been proactive in promoting Arizona in certain target markets, including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Dallas.
Where they spent their money
As for where the money went, the report finds the largest share β about $6.1 billion β went to hotels, motels and short-term rentals. But spending on eating out was not far behind at slightly less than $6 billion.
The tourists werenβt always headed to restaurants; another $1.2 billion was spent at grocery stores.
Local transportation, such as car rentals and gas, added another $4.4 billion, with $2.7 billion spent on entertainment and recreation. Retail sales β souvenirs and more β added $3.1 billion.
That generated tax dollars. The report figures visitors dropped $2.4 billion into state and local coffers in 2022.
Saguaro National Park, east and west, shows some of the best of Southern Arizona.
