Feb. 19 marks the inaugural Destination Professionals Day, commemorating the founding of the first organization of its kind in 1896. Today, there are over 10,000 global destination organizations like Experience Scottsdale.
Over the last century, destination organizations have grown into important drivers of not only tourism but economic development. Effective destination promotion builds vibrant, thriving communities that draw people in and keep them coming back — whether to visit, live, work or invest. This sector is made up of passionate individuals whose work enriches the quality of life for residents, helps attract and retain talent, fosters culture and community, supports public services, and grows the overall economy.
Since 1987, Experience Scottsdale has served both the city of Scottsdale and the town of Paradise Valley. We are a private nonprofit with 40 full- and part-time team members whose deep knowledge and understanding of their respective fields further our mission to enhance the local community by promoting the Scottsdale area as a luxury destination for meetings, events and leisure travel. That’s why Experience Scottsdale is accredited with distinction by the global trade association Destinations International — our staff is truly setting the bar of excellence for our industry.
Experience Scottsdale’s team of marketing professionals oversee our branding, website, social media, creative and content development, and more. All our creative work is handled in-house, allowing us to keep costs down while executing impactful marketing campaigns that help drive travelers to choose Scottsdale for their next vacation. Digital Graphic Designer Phillip Garcia joined Experience Scottsdale in 2023. If you’ve come across Experience Scottsdale’s campaigns online, you’ve likely recognized Phillip’s keen eye for design.
Meetings, conferences and sports tournaments are essential to Scottsdale’s tourism industry, and last fiscal year, Experience Scottsdale’s sales team generated $115 million in future economic impact for the community by landing incremental group business at Scottsdale-area properties and venues. Director of Sales Erika Pumphrey has been a crucial team member for over 13 years. Handling both our northeast market and sports tourism market, Erika’s efforts attract everything from youth amateur sports tournaments for soccer and lacrosse to events like the Super Bowl and Pac12 baseball, broadening the destination’s exposure to groups and individuals who might not otherwise come to Scottsdale.
Scottsdale caters to an affluent audience, and such travelers turn to travel advisors and tour operators to provide the best recommendations and packages. Last fiscal year, our tourism team connected with over 3,500 travel professionals across 43 countries to help sell Scottsdale vacations. Tourism Sales Manager Catrina Miyazaki, who brought a wealth of hospitality experience from resorts in Arizona and Hawaii when she joined our team in 2023, has kept Scottsdale top of mind with travel professionals from important North American markets.
If you’ve ever spotted an article about Scottsdale while flipping through a travel magazine, that was likely due to the efforts of our communications team. For over seven years, Director of Communications Christina Dicksen has built and maintained relationships with journalists to generate positive publicity about Scottsdale in national and international media outlets. Christina and the entire team pitch stories and host media in the destination, leading to meaningful, authentic and frequent coverage about Scottsdale.
While our marketing, convention sales, tourism and communications teams inspire visitors, media and clients around the world, Experience Scottsdale runs an efficient, effective business and fosters positive relationships with our stakeholders thanks to our finance and administration, partner development, and community and government affairs teams working behind the scenes. Every team member at every level, from assistant to chief, contributes to our success as an organization and as a destination.
Scottsdale’s 11.2 million annual visitors provide an annual economic impact of $3.5 billion and support the livelihoods of 27,000 people. Experience Scottsdale ensures these visitors and groups choose the destination so that their dollars benefit the community at large. Twenty-two percent of Scottsdale’s privilege tax collections are generated by visitors, making the tourism industry one of the most significant sources of revenue for the city of Scottsdale to support a vibrant economy, essential public services, and future opportunities for residents.
That would not be possible without team members like Phillip, Erika, Catrina, Christina and the 36 other destination professionals who compose Experience Scottsdale. On Destination Professionals Day — and the other 364 days of the year — I am exceedingly grateful for their dedication to ensuring our tourism industry and community thrives.
Rachel Sacco is the president and CEO of Experience Scottsdale. Sacco has been an integral part of Experience Scottsdale since its founding and was named its first president and CEO when it became a stand-alone, non-profit organization in 2001.
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