Sacco: Webinar shares the importance of Scottsdale’s tourism promotion

As residents, we all enjoy the benefits that come with living in a thriving resort destination — hotels, spas, museums, restaurants, golf courses and more. Yet we don’t always recognize the parts that keep this economic engine thrumming.

I hope that will change June 16 when Experience Scottsdale and the city of Scottsdale host “A Look Inside Scottsdale’s Tourism Industry,” a webinar that will cover the mechanisms in place to keep Scottsdale’s tourism industry strong.

This spring, Scottsdale saw visitors return to our community in numbers not seen since February 2020. Occupancy rates reached their highest levels since the beginning of the pandemic in March, and with rates strong, our hotels and resorts injected valuable bed tax dollars into our coffers.

What brought these visitors to Scottsdale? For some, it was the allure of special events like Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction, the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and Cactus League spring training. Others may have booked Scottsdale through the guidance of a travel advisor. Many surely came here to enjoy our incredible spring weather that they perhaps read about in a magazine article or heard about in a news segment.

The city of Scottsdale helps create and fund special events that bring so many to our community, while Experience Scottsdale keeps the destination in the spotlight. This longstanding partnership between the city and Experience Scottsdale, now going on 35 years, has made our local tourism industry the economic driver that is it today — an industry that employs thousands, plays host to millions and generates billions in economic impact.

I hope you’ll join Experience Scottsdale and the city for “A Look Inside Scottsdale’s Tourism Industry” as we cover the ins and outs of our partnership that has proven so beneficial to the industry and community at large.

During the webinar, you’ll get a glimpse of Experience Scottsdale’s advertising and promotions — those that so effectively attract visitors from around the globe yet are so rarely seen by residents. You’ll see the commercial that airs in markets like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and beyond. You’ll hear about the ways in which we train and educate thousands of travel advisors and tour operators to sell Scottsdale vacations.

You’ll find out how we pitch stories about Scottsdale to generate positive media coverage in publications like AFAR, Travel + Leisure and The New York Times. And you’ll come away with an understanding of what it takes to book conferences, meetings and events in Scottsdale’s hotels and resorts.

You’ll also learn how the money generated by visitors and meetings groups is funneled back into the community as the city invests visitor-paid sales tax dollars into important public services like police, fire and transportation.

Meanwhile, bed tax dollars, those paid by visitors staying overnight at our hotels and resorts, are used to support, improve and grow tourism events and capital projects, from Canal Convergence to Scottsdale Stadium.

As one the city’s largest partners since 1987, Experience Scottsdale feels a great responsibility to our community’s residents. Our organization takes great pride in our work, and I think you’ll be proud too once you witness all that goes into our tourism industry and tourism promotion.

Over the course of an hour, representatives from Experience Scottsdale and the city of Scottsdale’s Tourism & Events department will cover all this and more. Visit ExperienceScottsdale.com/Community/Tourism-Industry-Webinar to register. If you would like additional information, please contact Experience Scottsdale Director of Community Affairs Stephanie Pressler at spressler@experiencescottsdale.com.

Editor’s Note: Rachel Sacco is the president and CEO of Experience Scottsdale.