NORTHERN ARIZONA: WHERE TOURISM MATTERS

posted by Michael Chihak

Flagstaff Mayor Sara Presler recognizes the value of travel and tourism to her city's economy -- and to city government -- so she pays a lot of attention to it.

And that attention comes as part of a Northern Arizona regional economic development strategy, Presler said.

"When one of us wins in Northern Arizona, we all win," Presler told Arizona Week in an interview for Friday's program. "There's a multiplier effect in us investing from a regional perspective in economic development rather than being so interested in what's happening in Flagstaff proper."

Indeed, the Arizona Office of Tourism, in its latest report on the tourism economy by Dean Runyan Associates, shows that rural Arizona depends much more than the metro areas on tourism.

The report shows that state sales tax revenues generated by travel spending make up 15 percent of total sales taxes in Arizona's 13 rural and lower population counties. In Maricopa and Pima counties, homes to Phoenix and Tucson, the figure is 10 percent.

In Flagstaff, the city's tourism and convention bureau is located inside City Hall, a clear sign of its importance to the local economy.

"We like to say that half of our sales tax dollars come from tourists," Mayor Presler said. "So the pants of every police officer? They're paid for by a tourist."