More than 11 million visitors traveled to Scottsdale last year, spending approximately $3.7 billion, according to a recent study by the city’s Tourism and Events Division, but some Old Town merchants are concerned about some of the city’s destination tourism advertising expenditures.
Art gallery owner and local activist Bob Pejman says some of the money the city spends for destination tourism advertising for Old Town is ineffectual and decisions about it are not made in a non-transparent manner .
Of those who visited Scottsdale last year, 4.9 million were domestic overnight travelers, 1.7 million were international overnight visitors and 5.1 million were day-trippers. That’s a 3% increase in domestic visitors and 8% increase in international visitors over 2023, according to the city’s annual tourism study.
