Crossroads
Arizona Office of Tourism

Summer 2007
Geotourism
Meet an Industry Professional
Meet AOT Staff
Tourism Research by the Numbers
Arizona Economy Sporting

Geotourism
— the advantage of offering a more holistic visitor experience

Big Benefits
In March 2007, the Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT)
launched the National Geographic Arizona-Sonora
Desert Region Geotourism MapGuide. Available in
both hard copy and online at ArizonaGuide.com,
the MapGuide features more than 80 authentic and
unique Sonoran Desert experiences for visitors to the
southern Arizona and northern Mexico region.

>>Margie A. Emmermann, AOT Director, and
Laura French , Executive Projects Manager &
Multicultural Representative at the Geotourism
MapGuide Launch in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.

Arizona Travel Facts
A record 33 million travelers
visited Arizona in 2006, spending
$18.6 billion
Equates to visitation five times the
size of Arizona’s population
The travel industry is pumping
almost $51 million directly into
Arizona’s economy everyday

Geotourism, a concept created by National Geographic
Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations, aims
to sustain and enhance the geographical character
of a destination by focusing on the history, cultural,
environment, people, and cuisine of an area. By
offering travelers a wide variety of tourist destinations
that extend beyond the “typical” visit, geotourism
presents travelers with an opportunity to have a more
intimate and holistic visitor experience.
“Geotourism is a great fit for the state of Arizona,” said
Margie A. Emmermann, director of the Arizona Office
of Tourism. “The MapGuide served as a tremendous
opportunity to bring geotourism efforts to Arizona,
but now we need to work together to find ways to
apply this concept not just to the Sonoran Desert
region but throughout all of the Grand Canyon State.”
Geotourism has helped redefine the values of smaller
destinations. It has brought much needed and
deserved recognition to these undiscovered state gems.
“We need to help engage smaller Arizona communities
to discover and embrace what they have to offer
visitors,” said Mitch Nichols, president of Nichols
Tourism Group and geotourism consultant. “Then
they need to align their destination with the principles
of geotourism. In aligning themselves with the concept

they can really help boost the recognition of their
visitor destinations.”
Principles* such as: Integrity of place – which
means enhancing the geographical character of
an area by developing and improving it in ways
distinctive to its natural and cultural heritage.
Tourists satisfaction – which ensures that satisfied
geotourists bring new vacation stories home and send
friends off to experience the same thing. Community
involvement – which encourages local businesses
and civic groups to build partnership to promote a
distinctive experience which includes the area’s nature,
history and cultures. The principles listed above are
just a few that communities can apply to their areas.
(*More geotourism principles are outlined at www.
NationalGeographic.com )
“Applying these principles and values is only the first
step,” said Mr. Nichols. “The second step is to think
about product development. We need to think about
how we can link to another geotourism destination so
we are offering a more holistic visitor experience that
will keep visitors coming back.”
To help ensure broad application of the concept,
AOT developed an initiative called Arizona Origins.
Accessible on AOT’s Web site, ArizonaGuide.com, this
initiative aims to help bring geotourism to fruition and
encompasses the “timeless discoveries” that visitors
can continuously uncover throughout Arizona.
For more information about geotourism, please visit
www.arizonaguide.com.

Opening the Door to Arizona’s Tourism
Industry for National Tourism Week
Arizona joined hundreds of cities, states and travel-related businesses nationwide May
12 – 20, in recognition of the 24th Annual National Tourism Week. Designated by
Congress and established by presidential proclamation in 1983, the week highlighted
the value of the nation’s $703 billion travel industry and Arizona’s own $18.6 billion
travel industry.
This year’s theme, “Travel & Tourism: America’s Front Door, ”illustrated the importance
of travel to America’s image and suggested its impact as a leading industry for economic
growth.
“Hotel, meeting facilities, restaurants and transporation providers are just some of the
local businesses greatly impacted by travel to Arizona,” said Margie A. Emmermann,
director of the Arizona Office of Tourism. “This industry directly generated 173,000
travel-industry jobs for Arizona in 2006 and the indirect effects of this powerful
industry impacts the livelihood of thousands more Arizonans.”

>>AOT Director Margie
Emmermann, along with
Jay Reams, assistant
director at Arizona State
Parks department and
Jay Ziemann, assistant
director external affairs of
the Arizona State Parks
department, open the
door to Arizona’s tourism
industry at Tonto Natural
Bridge State Park.

To help commemorate the week, Ms. Emmermann joined representatives from the
Arizona State Parks department in celebrating the State Parks 50th Anniversary at
Tonto Natural Bridge on Saturday, May 12th. Ms. Emmermann, along with Jay Ream,
assistant director of the Arizona State Parks department and Jay Ziemann, assistant
director external affairs of the Arizona State Parks department, opened the door to
Arizona’s tourism industry at the park’s Lodge.
“National Tourism Week helps us celebrate the people that visit here, the workforce
that provide service for them and the development created as a result,”
said Ms. Emmermann.

Meet An Industry Professional
Name: Kay Daggett
Title: Director, Sierra Vista Convention & Visitors
Bureau
Education and School: While I do not hold a degree,
I do have a few credits from the University of Arizona.
The majority of my education hasn’t been in a
traditional, formal program. I’ve been so fortunate to
learn so much from others.
Associations: Arizona Tourism Advisory Council, Arizona Tourism Alliance,
Arizona Film and Television Advisory Board, Arizona-Mexico Commission,
Cochise County Tourism Council
Family: Married 32 years, 4 children and 11 grandchildren
How did you get involved in this industry? I started in Real Estate and
served on an Economic Development Committee through which I became very
interested in the economic impact of the tourism/travel industry. That led to
me being offered the position of Executive Director of the Sierra Vista Area
Chamber of Commerce. Later, I was offered my current position of Director
for the Sierra Vista Convention & Visitors Bureau.
What is your ultimate career goal? I hope to retire in three to five years;
then, I’m going to begin yet another career as a professional traveler.
What were some of your previous jobs? I was an engineering assistant at
Motorola for a few years, when I was really young. Then, I was in real estate
for 10 years, where I began gravitating toward rural economic development.
My husband and I have also owned a small neighborhood tavern for the past
30 years.
If you didn’t have this job, what job would you want? I think I might want to
consider economic research; however, I might be a little too social.

When you were 8, what did you want to be when you grew up? Well I
had two dreams. One was to be a singer and dancer; the other was to be
veterinarian.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Painting, gardening & shopping
What is your biggest pet peeve? My pet peeve is that we don’t respect our
elders. However that’s probably because I now am an elder.
What is your favorite Arizona restaurant? Geez, there are so many and I’ve
visited almost every community in the State. I think I have a favorite in each
town, and that would be too numerous to mention.
What section of the newspaper do you read first? Money section
Whom do you most admire? I most admire my grandmother, who adopted
me when I was 2 years old. I never called her grandmother, she was always
my mom.
Why is your role important to the tourism industry? I truly believe that
every CVB Director has an obligation to learn from other tourism entities and
CVBs. Then, to use their best practices, modify those practices to better
serve their communities, and pass it forward to the next person asking for
help.
What is your biggest wish for the industry in the next year? I must say, as
the current Chair of the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Council, I have learned a
great deal. The knowledge and professionalism of the AOT staff is amazing.
I have learned so much from them and would hope they could find new
ways of sharing that wisdom with all the communities around the State. So,
my wish for the industry is to unite and to utilize the talents of others. I’m
thrilled with the formation of Tourism University!

Tourism Research By The Numbers
1st Quarter 2007

Highlight of the Quarter
– Arizona State Parks

For more detailed information, please refer to the Arizona Tourism

Source: Arizona State Parks

Indicators 1st Quarter 2007 Newsletter available under the newsletter
•

section of the AOT Web site, www.azot.gov.

Arizona Tourism Indicators

Lodging Details
1st Qtr 2007 Occupancy Rate
(% change over Q1 2006)

1st Qtr 2007
% Change over
1st Qtr 2006
Tourism Related

5.5%

•

6. 0%

1st Qtr 2007 Occupancy Rate
(% change over Q1 2006)

4. 0%

Tax1
Airport
Passenger
Traffic2

2.6%

State Park
Visitation3

8.6%

National Park
Visitation4

-1.1%

Painted Cliffs
Welcome Center
Visitation5

-3.1%

State-wide
Lodging6

See below

~Occupancy

0.1%

1.4%

6. 0%
2. 0%

-0.1% 0.1% 0.0%

4. 0%
0. 0%
2. 0%
-2 .0%
0. 0%
-2 .0%

•

-0.8%

1.4%
-0.1% 0.1% 0.0%

United States

Metro Phoenix

Mountain Region

Metro Tucson

State of Arizona
United States

Metro Phoenix

-0.8%

Source: SmithMountain
Travel Research
Region

Metro Tucson

Overall, the occupancy rate for 1st quarter 2007
was relatively flat for lodging in the United States,
Arizona Mountain Region, State of Arizona, Metro
Phoenix and Metro Tucson as compared to 1st
quarter 2006.

1st Qtr 2007 ADR
(% change over Q1 2006)
12. 0%
10. 0%
9.5%

~Revenue per
Available Room
(RevPAR)

9.3%

~Demand

-0.2%

~Supply

-0.4%

8. 0%
12.
6. 0%
10.
4. 0%
8.
2. 0%
6. 0%
0.
0%

1st Qtr 2007 ADR 10.9%
9.5%Q1
9.2%
(% change over
2006)
6.5%

6.5%

8.1%

8.1%

9.5% 9.2%

10.9%

4. 0%

United States

Metro Phoenix

2. 0%

Mountain Region

Metro Tucson

0. 0%

State of Arizona
United States

Metro Phoenix

Mountain Region

Metro Tucson

State of Arizona

Source: Smith Travel Research
Source::
1 Arizona Department of Revenue & NAU, 2
Activity reports provided by airports, 3 Arizona
State Parks, 4 National Parks Service, 5 Painted
Cliffs Welcome Center, which is located on
Interstate 40 westbound near the Arizona/New
Mexico border, 6 Smith Travel Research

Visitation to the parks increased
by 8.6 percent to 601,499 		
visitors.
This increase was attributed
to the 25.6 percent increase in
visitation in March.
The Arizona State Parks with
the largest percentage increase
are listed below:

Fool Hollow Lake increased
		 73.2 percent to 7,115 visitors
~

State of Arizona

~Average Daily
Rate (ADR)

•

Arizona state parks had an
impressive first quarter for 2007.

The Average Daily Rate (ADR) continues to
increase in all tracked segments. State-wide, ADR
saw an 9.5 percent increase as compared to 1st
quarter 2006. This increase is driving the increase
in Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR).

Slide Rock increased 43.7 		
		 percent to 25,784 visitors
~

Top Five State Parks
(By visitation in the 1st Qtr 2007)
1. Catalina 		 66,256
2. Kartchner Caverns 		 56,571
3. Lake Havasu 		 45,342
4. Lost Dutchman 		 37,181

Arizona Economy Sporting Big Benefits
Two major economic impact studies conducted this
past spring on two of the state’s signature sporting
events have exposed great results for Arizona’s economy.
The Cactus League Attendee Tracking and Expenditure
Impact Survey and the P.F. Changs Rock n’ Roll Arizona
Marathon and Half Marathon Economic Impact Survey
both have revealed tremendous economic benefits for
the Grand Canyon State.
In May 2007, AOT, in partnership with Cactus League
Baseball Association, released the Cactus League
Attendee Tracking and Expenditure Impact Survey. The
survey, conducted by FMR Associates, Inc., showed a
significant increase in Spring Training Attendance and
Fan Expenditures for 2007, immediately revealing just
how vital Cactus League games are to Arizona’s
economy.
According to the survey, a total of 1,217,550 spring
training fans generated more than $300 million within
the Grand Canyon State, a 54 percent increase from
2003 when 1,065,381 fans generated a total of $201
million. The study also revealed that 57 percent of
spring training attendees came to Arizona from another
state or country, an increase from 48 percent in 2003.
Overall, out-of-state spring training visitors
represented 44 states-as well as the District of
Columbia, Canada, Germany and Mexico. In addition,
more than 68 percent of out-of state visitors indicated
that coming to a spring training game was the “primary
reason for visiting Arizona.
Many spring training visitors traveled to other parts of
the state during their stays. Eighteen percent visited
Sedona while eight percent traveled to the Grand
Canyon. Prescott, Tombstone, Lake Havasu, and
Flagstaff each received two percent of spring
training visitors.
January marked the Fourth Annual P.F. Chang’s Rock n’ Roll
Arizona Marathon & Half Marathon and it continues to
prove its economic worth to Arizona. According to data just
released from AOT, the 2007 event generated an estimated
$44 million for the state’s economy.
More than 34,000 runners registered for the 2007 race,
enabling it to not only generate $44 million for the

state’s economy, but also contribute more than $2
million in tax revenues. This level of spending by the
participants of the event helped produce an
employment impact of 1,230 jobs within Maricopa
County.
An economic impact study of the race was last
conducted after the inaugural race in 2004. At that
time the economic impact was estimated at $41
million, including $1.1 million in tax revenues.
Event co-hosts Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe
benefited the most from the marathon with race
participants’ spending on hotels, food, shopping and
other items. More than half of the runners were from
out-of-state. The top five states of origin for out-ofstate runners were: California, Illinois, Colorado,
Wisconsin, and Washington, which represents the
majority of the states where AOT’s focuses its
marketing efforts.
More than 21 percent of out-of state respondents
reported traveling outside the Phoenix Metro area
during their stay. Sedona was the most frequently
visited community with 45.5 percent of participants
traveling to the destination, followed by Tucson at
28.4 percent.
Native American Tribal lands accounted for 21.8
percent of additional travel, while Flagstaff and
Williams captured 18.5 percent of travel outside
Phoenix.
“These results are great news for Arizona,” said Margie
A. Emmermann, Director of AOT. “Both these studies
have revealed how important sports tourism is to
Arizona’s economy. The economic benefits from both
the Cactus League spring training games and the Rock
n’ Roll marathon resonates throughout the state.”
For more detailed information on the Cactus League
Baseball Attendee Tracking Survey, please visit www.
cactusleague.com.
For more detailed information on the P.F. Chang Rock
n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon, please
visit, www.azot.gov.

5. Patagonia 		 35,267

source: Arizona State Parks
Top Five National Parks
(By visitation in the 1st Qtr 2007)
1. Grand Canyon NP 		 626,911
2. Saguaro NP 		 233,052
3. Lake Mead NRA 		 214,889
4. Canyon de Chelly NM 		 160,628
5. Montezuma Castle NM 146,089

source: National Parks Service
Top 10 Originating States to
Painted Cliffs Welcome Center
(1st Qtr 2007)
1. Minnesota 		 1,909
2. Texas 		 1,774
3. New Mexico 		 1,772
4. Colorado 		 1,765
5. Illinois 		 1,345
6. Michigan 		 1,219
7. California 		 1,155
8. Wisconsin 		 1,140
9. Iowa 		 968
10. Missouri 		 849

source: Arizona Office of Tourism

Meet AOT Staff
Name: Karen McClurg
Title: Tourism Education and
Development Manager
How long have you been with AOT? 4 ½
years and counting
Education: Graduated from Arizona
State University with a bachelor’s
degree in Tourism.
What is your previous work history? I have worked at various
places throughout college which included insurance agent,
concierge for a Scottsdale resort, and travel counselor/
receptionist at the Chandler Chamber of Commerce.
What is your role at AOT? My role is to manage AOT’s matching
grant programs; the Teamwork for Effective Arizona Marketing
(TEAM) matching grants program and the Rural Tourism
Development Grant Program (RTDGP). I am also responsible for
AOT’s newest program, Arizona Tourism University (ATU)
which will host over fifteen workshops throughout the year on
various topics such as the Arizona Brand, the Economic Impact
of the Travel Industry in Arizona, Geotourism, How to Write a
Marketing Plan, How to Conduct a Visitor Survey and How to
Create an Itinerary and Conduct a FAM tour. My goal is to
provide communities of Arizona with much needed
information to assist them with their tourism marketing goals.
What do you enjoy most about your job? I love getting out and
about in the different Arizona communities. The best part of
my job is being able to work with the local industry helping
to enhance their tourism efforts through grants, technical
assistance and other AOT programs. I find this part of my
job very rewarding.

AOT Staff Member Contributes
to Historic Tourism Project
Jennifer Sutcliffe, AOT’s Travel Industry Manager, joined more than 300 travel
industry professionals in their quest to help restore the historic town of Virginia
City, Nevada during the 5th Annual Tourism - Caring for America restoration event,
held May 18th - 19th.
Jennifer and the group of industry volunteers, which included CEOs, transportation
executive, hoteliers, tour operators, travel agents, executives of convention and
visitors bureaus and other travel industry professionals, joined together to help
rejuvenate the historic sites in Virginia City. The city is an old silver mining town that
was once known as the “richest place on earth.” The travel industry volunteers took
on tasks such as clearing an overgrown historic cemetery, painting historic buildings
and churches, cataloging historic artifacts, rebuilding stairs for the old house,
cleaning and restoring a historic train car and various other restorative tasks in the
hopes that the efforts will bring back a bit of sparkle to an old west city.
“Performing tasks to help restore a historic building or a local landscape for a
community that doesn’t have the human or financial resources is a tremendous
feeling,” said Jennifer. “And when you can see the difference you have made, there
is a sense of pride for everyone – the volunteer as well as the resident. Each site or
community becomes a part of you and you know that others can appreciate and
enjoy those resources for a lot longer than before you arrived.”
The organization who arranged the event, Tourism Cares for Tomorrow, is dedicated
to the restoration and preservation of worldwide tourism sites and offered tourism
industry professionals an opportunity to “give back” to a community whose primary
industry today is tourism. One of the more significant examples was when the
organization helped restore sites in New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina
struck in 2005 and devastated much of the area.
“We had the opportunity to go to the area and help restore some sense of community to
the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” said Jennifer. “By helping to clean up some of the historic
and cultural landmarks that visitors have enjoyed for years, we helped bring back some
local pride and increased tourism revenue to the community.”
For more information about Tourism Cares for Tomorrow, contact
Jennifer Sutcliffe at (602) 364-3693 or via e-mail at jsutcliffe@azot.gov. Pictures
and stories from the event will be available soon at www.tourismcares.org.

What is your favorite Arizona experience? There have been so
many of them. I could not possibly list them all. At the top of
the list would have to be white river rafting down the Colorado
River in the Grand Canyon and skydiving in Eloy as part of a
birthday celebration.
What book are you currently reading? The Life of Mahatma
Gandhi by Louis Fisher.
What are you currently listening to? The Very Best of Ray Charles
Whom do you most admire and why? I admire my mother the
most. She is selfless in her giving to our family as well as to
strangers. She always puts her family’s needs before her own.
She taught me to enjoy life, not take it too seriously and just
have fun. She enjoys the simple things in life and always takes
time out to smell the roses.

>>Jennifer was among the numerous tourism professionals that volunteered to help clean areas
in southern Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

Subscribe to Crossroads
To receive your free issue of Crossroads, or to subscribe to AOT’s weekly Enewsletter, AOT in Action, please send your name, organization, E-mail and
physical address to Loretta Belonio at lbelonio@azot.gov or (602) 364-3725.
If you wish to unsubscribe from either newsletter, please let Loretta know.

Margie A. Emmermann, Director
Arizona Office of Tourism
1110 W. Washington Street, Ste. 155
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
602.364.3700
www.azot.gov
Return Service Requested

From The Director
Finally!! After a few months
off for some reformatting,
the AOT’s Crossroads
newsletter is back! The
new version promises
to offer more in-depth
tourism related articles on
issues and trends affecting
Arizona’s travel industry.
But don’t worry, we haven’t changed everything! You
can still find the same great industry professional and
AOT staff interviews that really highlight the dynamic
individuals that make upthis industry.
In this edition of Crossroads, we take a look into the
benefits of applying geotourism values and principles
to visitor destinations and interview Mitch Nichols,
president of Nichols Tourism Group, a strong
advocate of geotourism principles. We also take a look
at how valuable sports tourism has been for Arizona.
Both the Cactus League and P.F. Chang’s Rock n’ Roll
Arizona Marathon economic impact studies were
released and unveiled great news for Arizona. These
events bring such a tremendous financial benefit to the
state and get visitors to travel throughout Arizona, as
you’ll read in the article.
Also in this edition of Crossroads, you’ll see that
education is a cornerstone to keeping tourism as a

Coming Soon...
major contributor to Arizona’s economic development.
Crossroads interviews with AOT staff member Karen
McClurg and industry professional Kay Daggett, show
that they definitely do their parts to educate not only
our constituents, but members of the general public on
all that the Grand Canyon State has to offer. Karen, as
AOT’s tourism education and development manager
is vital to the development of workshops that help
inform and teach industry professionals community
members statewide on how to promote tourism.
Kay, as the director of the Sierra Vista Conventions
& Visitors Bureau, uses what AOT offers to promote
Sierra Vista to Arizona communities and beyond. This
“education partnership” helps produce great revenue
numbers as is evident from our first quarter fiscal year
2007 results.
Thank you for all your hard work and continued
support for Arizona tourism!

• ESTO (Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations)

The Phoenician
www.tia.org
August 15-18, 2007
• La Cumbre Sales Mission

Ft. Lauderdale, FL
September 5-7, 2007
• Travel Leadership Summit

Washington, D.C.
www.tia.org
September 26-27, 2007
• Arizona Media Marketplace

Los Angeles, CA
September 27, 2007
• Arizona Showcase

Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
October 3-4, 2007
Margie A. Emmermann
Director
Arizona Office of Tourism