Travel, tourism normalcy may be a long way off, Experience Scottsdale says

By Melissa Rosequist
Twitter: @mrosequist_

It may take until 2024 for the tourism industry to reach normalcy again, one local expert says, although Scottsdale’s local tourism sector is hopeful for a quicker return.

Experience Scottsdale President and CEO Rachel Sacco gave a brief update to Scottsdale City Council Feb. 16, which included an outlook on what to expect in the coming months and years.

Unlike years past, 11 million visitors aren’t traveling to Scottsdale this year. The Waste Management Phoenix Open let in a slim amount of its usual visitors; spring training game attendance is limited; and Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction has rescheduled its event to a later date. The change to these signature events are among a bevy of other local events that have been canceled or postponed, such as the Parada del Sol.

Experience Scottsdale has served as a tourism and marketing bureau for the city and neighboring Town of Paradise Valley for many years. Its job, in part, is to market the area to travelers and businesses — encouraging a visit to Scottsdale to see all it has to offer.

Part of the presentation by Ms. Sacco featured just that — a commercial promoting Scottsdale’s “extraordinary moments and lifelong memories” with an emotional tug at the heart strings. The video showed a man looking over the Arizona desert as he thought about years’ of memories at Scottsdale spots including Taliesin West, Old Town, hiking and hot air balloon rides with his family.

Ms. Sacco says even though the film was produced prior to COVID-19, she was glad it still hits the right spots in the current day.

Scottsdale is home to dozens of hotels, an industry that historically has created a healthy revenue stream for the city.

This spring, tourism revenue is expected to be sparse considering the ongoing pandemic. According to Ms. Sacco, 23% of sales and bed tax collections come from visitors.

“The industry experts don’t even anticipate a full recovery for the U.S. tourism industry until perhaps 2024,” Ms. Sacco said. “However, this year, in 2021, our forecast indicates that Scottsdale hotels will regain some of the ground we lost in 2020, but certainly not all of it.”

The Experience Scottsdale team, Ms. Sacco says, is focused on ensuring the area regains record-breaking visitation.

Ms. Sacco pointed out Scottsdale and Arizona made national headlines because of COVID-19 and being among the worst places for the virus in the country. In spite of that, Experience Scottsdale has worked, in part, to protect Scottsdale’s brand during that time.

“We have been successful in protecting our brand as we have spent months connecting virtually with meeting planners, with travel professionals and media resulting in leads and bookings for future business and positive media coverage about Scottsdale,” Ms. Sacco said.

The virtual field has been used in more ways than one, Ms. Sacco says, noting that “virtual trade shows” have allowed Experience Scottsdale to introduced the city to customers they wouldn’t have reached otherwise.

Clients and travel advisers who previously were focused on off-shore destinations — or Disney-type vacations — are looking for alternatives.
“Scottsdale is among those,” Ms. Sacco said.

“It also means continuing to emphasize the wide open spaces that we have; the outdoor venues; the casita-style resorts; the safety measures; as well as the traditional amenities and cultures,” Ms. Sacco said.

Safety is a top priority, Ms. Sacco noted, saying Experience Scottsdale wants to balance a healthy community with a healthy hospitality sector.

Experience Scottsdale Board Chairwoman Kate Birchler also spoke, promoting the successes the firm seeks.

“The team has continued to foster long standing relations with the travel, trade and media with meeting planners and encouraging visitors to travel to Scottsdale when they feel comfortable,” Ms. Birchler said.

The Scottsdale City Council did not add any comments following the presentation. Ms. Sacco is scheduled to give an update to the Paradise Valley Town Council in March.