Visit Tucson’s primary objective is to drive and increase the regional economic impact of visitors. We do this by marketing our destination to consumers, as well as by targeting meeting planners, sporting event coordinators, event promoters, filmmakers, travel professionals and travel media.
PROMOTING TUCSON TO TOUR OPERATORS
Visit Tucson markets Tucson and Southern Arizona as a leisure destination to domestic and international receptive operators, tour operators and travel agents. The Tourism department serves as the direct sales contact for these clients, meeting them throughout the year at tradeshows, during sales missions and on familiarization trips.
We educate travel professionals about our region to create awareness and increase interest, highlighting unique, authentic experiences that reflect our sense of place. Once interest has been established, we connect the tour operator with key hotel, attraction and restaurant contacts in metro Tucson so they can develop packages and tours. To help promote these package sand tours, we provide images that capture the essence of Tucson and Southern Arizona. By showing travel professionals how best to position our destination, we effectively help them increase sales.
WORKING WITH JOURNALISTS TO MARKET TUCSON
Visit Tucson’s public relations (PR) department works with the media – publications, editors, journalists and freelance writers – to generate articles about our destination and our tourism amenities. This earned media coverage helps to leverage Visit Tucson’s overall marketing efforts and extends the reach of advertising campaigns. Furthermore,these stories provide third-party validation, presenting an unbiased view of the Tucson and Southern Arizona region. Through the first 10 months of our current fiscal year we have
generated more than $12 million in media coverage in many top domestic and international media publications. For example, in September 2015 we provided recommendations and assistance to a journalist working for the Associated Press. Following her visit, this journalist wrote a story entitled “Neighborhoods: Lots to do in Tucson’s revitalized downtown” that was published on the news wire and picked up in 117 newspapers across the U.S. and Canada
TOURISM AND PR DRIVE INTERNATIONAL VISITATION TO TUCSON AND SOUTHERN ARIZONA
Given current budget limitations, Tourism and PR work hand-in-hand as Visit Tucson’s primary method to generate awareness with international travelers. While it is the PR department’s efforts
in generating destination articles that help create demand for Tucson and Southern Arizona, it
is the Tourism department’s efforts that leverage the demand and facilitate the actual booking.
As international visitors to the U.S. are more likely to use a travel professional than their domestic
counterparts, our work with them to develop packages is a critical component for meeting
customer demand and increasing overall visitation. 
These efforts are supported with advertising and expanded through our partnership with Brand USA, the destination marketing organization responsible for promoting the U.S. to international visitors.
International visitors to Tucson come from around
the world, but the vast majority come from Mexico,
followed by Canada, United Kingdom, Germany
and France. Mexicans visit throughout the year
for shopping, entertainment and medical services.
Canadians tend to visit in the winter months, escaping
the cold temperatures back home. Brits visit all year
round for a variety of reasons, but especially for the
sun. Germans and French tend to travel with their
families in summer to experience our western culture and native heritage.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
If you need ideas on how to entertain visiting family and friends or you simply want to explore Tucson and Southern Arizona, please go to VisitTucson.org. or stop by Visit Tucson’s Visitor Center located at110 S. Church Ave. in La Placita Village in Downtown Tucson.
Visit Tucson is a 501c6, nonprofit organization charged with bringing visitors and visitor spending to our region.
Visit Tucson Tourism Update is an advertisement produced by Visit Tucson and paid via the organization’s private-sector funds.
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