Entire Publication
Highlights and Executive Summary below
Tourism in the Tucson Metropolitan Area:
Characteristics and Impacts of Overnight Visitors 1995–1996
by Alberta Charney and Julie Leones1
Assisted by: Paul Hoyt, Monica Lopez, Amy Raymond, Alex Moseley,
Denise Haefner, Alan Trimmer and Matt Girardi
1 Drs. Charney and Leones are, respectively, a research
specialist with the Economic and Business Research program (College
of Business and Public Administration) and an extension economist
with the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Arizona
Cooperative Extension (College of Agriculutre) at The University
of Arizona.
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Metropolitan Tucson Convention &
Visitors Bureau (MTCVB). Many thanks to Patrick A. Tierney, President
and the staff for providing important information during the
research process, providing information on hotel resources in
the region, and backing up our requests for cooperation from
local hoteliers. We are also grateful to all of the hotels and
resorts that cooperated in this study. We thank them both for
allowing our student research assistants to contact their guests
and distribute surveys and for the supplemental information they
provided. We hope that they find the results of this study well
worth the effort.
We are thankful to the many visitors to and residents of Tucson
who completed surveys for us. We are especially appreciative of
the hard work of research assistants Monica Lopez, Amy Raymond,
Alex Moseley, Denise Haefner, Alan Trimmer and Matt Girardi. We
have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with some of
the University's finest undergraduate students. Thanks also to
Paul Hoyt, a consultant to the project, whose organizational skills
helped this project proceed smoothly.
Many thanks to Linda Taber for design and layout and to Mary Campbell
for editing assistance.
Our appreciation also goes to David Taylor, City of Tucson's Planning
Program Coordinator, for helping us identify in which communities
hotels were located within the Greater Tucson area and providing
us with other important data. Thanks to Bill Maxwell from the City
of Tucson and Bruce Baseman from Pima County Government for providing
revenue data needed to calculate impacts.
Finally, we thank Dennis Cory, Barbara Becker, and Douglas Dunn
for peer review. Their comments and criticisms have helped improve
this report.
Highlights
- How many overnight visitors stayed in the Tucson area between
August 1995 and July 1996?
2.5 million visitors in over 1 million visitor parties
1.1 million visitors stayed in commercial accommodations for
a total of 2.8 million room nights.
Visitor parties spent a total of 8.9 million nights in Tucson
The average length of stay was:
- What was the economic impact of overnight visitors?
$ 909 million in expenditures in Pima County
$ 1.5 billion in gross revenue impacts in Pima County
36,500 jobs directly and indirectly tied to overnight visitors
in Pima County 12 percent of all jobs in Pima County
$ 107.1 million in revenues to state and local government
- How many rooms are available in commercial accommodations
in the Tucson Metropolitan Area?
There are more than 12,800 rooms in hotels, resorts, motels,
bed and breakfasts and guest ranches in the Metropolitan
Tucson area.
500 of these rooms have opened since the study was completed
in September, 1996.
Approximately 8,500 rooms are in the City of Tucson (two-thirds
of all rooms)
About 2,150 rooms in the Tucson metropolitan area are in resort
and luxury accommodations
Executive Summary
This study is designed to provide estimates of total overnight
visitors to the Tucson Metropolitan area, overnight visitor expenditures
and the economic and revenue impact associated with those expenditures.
It also presents detailed information on why overnight visitors
choose Tucson, what attractions they visit, what activities they
participate in while they are here, and what their interests are.
This study does not include day-trip visitors to Tucson, for example:
day trippers from Mexico and other parts of Arizona who come to
Tucson for shopping, sight-seeing or visiting friends and relatives;
and visitors who stop or who spend part of a day as they pass through
on the interstate highway system. The study does not include travel
and tourism expenditures of local residents. The study does not
include travel and tourism expenditures made by overnight visitors
prior to their arrival in Pima County (ex., airfare).
Estimates of overnight visitor numbers and visitor expenditures
were obtained by surveying Tucson guests over a one-year period,
from August 1995 through July 1996. Hotel guests were surveyed
through a random sample of hotels, and visitors to private homes
were surveyed via random telephone and mail surveys. Winter visitors
staying in condominiums, town-homes, apartments or single-family
homes were also identified through a telephone survey. Estimates
for winter visitors staying in RVs were obtained from the Winter
Visitor Survey, a study done by the Center for Business Research,
College of Business, Arizona State University.
Expenditures for visitors who spend the night in Tucson are $909
million in fiscal year 1995-96. Overnight visitor expenditures
generate 36,500 wage and salary jobs either directly or indirectly
in the Tucson economy. This represents more than 12 percent of
the wage and salary jobs in Pima County (Table 1). Overnight visitors
generate $1.5 billion in sales impacts in Pima County. Overnight
visitor spending contributes approximately $63 million dollars
in tax revenues to the State of Arizona, $17 million to Pima County
and $28 million to the City of Tucson (Figure 1).
Table 1. Economic Impacts of Tourism, 1995-96
|
Sales
|
Jobs
|
|
($ million)
|
Direct
|
908.8
|
25,700
|
Indirect and induced
|
630.9
|
10,800
|
Total |
1,539.7
|
36,500
|
Figure 1. Tourism Revenue Summary for Fiscal 1996
($107.1 million)
Lodging represents 26 percent of total expenditures and another
21 percent is spent at eating and drinking establishments (Figure
2). Two-thirds of Tucson's overnight visitor expenditures come
from people staying in resorts and hotels. The rest is spent by
visitors in private homes; winter visitors staying in condominiums,
apartments and houses; and winter visitors staying in RVs and trailers
(Table 2).
Figure 2. Expenditure Summary for Tourism, 1995-96, by Categorya
a Category breakdown for winter
visitors who stayed in RVs or trailers was based on a 1994 survey
of Phoenix winter visitors, conducted by the Center for Business
Research, College of Business, Arizona State University.
Table 2. Expenditures Summary for Tourism, 1995-96, by Accommodations
Expenditure |
$millions
|
Percent
|
Non-resort hotels
|
409.8
|
45.0
|
Resort hotels
|
194.3
|
21.4
|
Private homes
|
187.3
|
20.6
|
Winter visitors - non-RV
|
61.4
|
6.2
|
Winter visitors - RV and trailera |
56
|
6.8
|
Total |
908.8
|
100
|
a Winter visitors RV and Trailer data were obtained
from Arizona Business, Center for Business Research,
College of Business, Arizona State University, Volume 43, No.
8, August 1996, pp. 1–4.
More than 1.1 million visitors spend the night in Tucson hotels.
Each one stays an average of five nights and spends an average
of $547 in Tucson while on their trip. More than half travel in
couples and almost one-quarter are visitors traveling alone. Only
15 percent are traveling with children and even fewer are traveling
with business associates, friends or relatives. Tucson visitors
are extremely well educated, with 64 percent holding at least a
bachelor's degree, and have high incomes, with 57 percent earning
more than $60,000 per year.
Forty-four percent of the hotel visitors are from Arizona or other
western states (Figure 3). Californians comprise a large share
of those visitors and represent 15.8 percent of the total. The
southern and central regions of the country each contribute approximately
18 percent of our visitors. Ten percent each are from eastern states
and from foreign countries, including Mexico.
Figure 3. Hotel Visitor Expenditures by Origin of Visitor,
1995-96
Business is cited as the primary reason for coming to Tucson by
43 percent of hotel visitors, although many are mixing business
and leisure (Figure 4). Leisure is the primary objective of 30
percent of hotel guests, and another 14 percent are in Tucson to
visit family and friends.
Figure 4. Hotel Visitors' Primary Reason for Visiting Tucson,
1995-96
While they are here, hotel visitors enjoy a wide range of activities,
but shopping, sightseeing and hiking are the most popular. Eleven
percent of our visitors play golf while they are here. The most
popular attractions for hotel visitors are the Arizona-Sonora Desert
Museum, Saguaro National Park, Sabino Canyon, San Xavier Mission,
Pima Air and Space Museum and Biosphere 2.
More than half of our hotel guests are return visitors, and 13
percent have returned at least five times. Once here, 81 percent
say they plan to return. Most visitors generally like the area,
the climate, and the friendly people. Few visitors indicate they
dislike something about Tucson, but among those who do, traffic
congestion and other transportation-related issues (such as street
lighting, rude drivers, and inadequate public transportation) are
most frequently mentioned. A few visitors also dislike the urban
sprawl and appearance of parts of Tucson.
Visitors learn about Tucson primarily from family and friends
and through business or conventions. Nine percent learn about Tucson
from guidebooks, and 13 percent learn of Tucson from brochures,
magazines, newspaper articles, or TV and radio shows and advertisements.
Once they are here, visitors strongly prefer to receive travel
information through written materials and conversations with knowledgeable
locals.
The following seven groups of hotel visitors are analyzed separately:
international, resort, golf, over 60 years of age, business, leisure
and Gem and Mineral Show visitors. The same visitor may be included
in more than one or these groups. Gem and Mineral Show visitor
parties spend the most per room night ($578); however, their spending
figures include gem and mineral purchases. Aside from Gem and Mineral
Show visitors, the highest expenditure per room night is for resort
visitor parties ($323) and golfers ($299). Golfers spend twice
as much during their stay as resort visitors because they stay
more than twice as long. The seven groups enjoy the same attractions
as other visitors, but there are some interesting differences.
Resort visitors are more likely to visit the Downtown Arts District,
and golfers and international visitors are more likely to visit
Biosphere 2.
Tucson residents are hosts to approximately 1.4 million visitors
in their homes. Private home guests are here an average of 7.5
nights and spend $45 per party night. In all, private home visitors
spend $187 million in Tucson. Private home visitors come predominantly
from Arizona and other western states (Table 3). Private home visitors
are very well educated (59 percent hold bachelor's degrees or above).
Table 3. Origin of Visitor Parties to Private Homes and Hotels,
1995-96
|
Percent
|
Western states, excl. Arizona
|
31
|
Central states
|
18
|
Southern states
|
17
|
Arizona
|
15
|
Eastern states
|
9
|
International
|
10
|
In total, 2.5 million visitors come to Tucson each year and they
stay a total of 8.9 million room/party nights (Table 4). Although
the numbers of winter visitors are not large, the non-RV and RV
winter visitors account for 2.2 million party nights because they
stay an average of four or five months.
Table 4. Summary of Tucson's Overnight Visitors, 1995–96
Accommodation |
Visitors
|
Visitor Parties
|
Room or Party Nightsa
|
Total Visitor Expenditures
|
Percentage of Total Expenditures
|
Hotels
|
1,105,000
|
533,000
|
2,772,000
|
$604,100,000
|
66
|
Private homes
|
1,361,000
|
523,000
|
3,936,000
|
$187,300,000
|
21
|
Non-RV winter visitors
|
11,000
|
5,000
|
861,000
|
$61,400,000
|
6
|
RV winter visitorsa |
22,000
|
11,000
|
1,344,000
|
$56,000,000
|
7
|
Total |
2,499,000
|
1,072,000
|
8,913,000
|
$908,800,000
|
100
|
a Figures are room nights for hotel visitors
and party nights for other overnight visitors.
In addition to
the economic impact measured in this study, tourism provides
other advantages to the community as well. Local residents enjoy
the wide variety of restaurants and recreational facilities that
are available in Tucson. Tucson gets exposure through tourism
that can result in firm relocations or new businesses created.
In addition, firm recruitment and retention is facilitated by
the quality of life that tourism helps to provide.
