Study shows tourists' impact on Tempe continues to grow

A recently released study shows Tempe tourists brought an estimated $730.6 million in spending to the city in 2015, which the city hopes to continue to capitalize on as college basketball fans roll into town next week for the NCAA Final Four.

A Tempe Tourism Office website plays up the city's college-town vibe, along with local restaurants, the Tempe Festival of the Arts, Tempe Town Lake and other attractions.

Tempe provided an $87,600 sponsorship to the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee for the Final Four, which will be played April 1 and April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

The recent Tempe Tourism Office-commissioned study highlights the benefits of tourism, estimating that direct and indirect tourist-generated sales reached approximately $1 billion in 2015.

One in 13 jobs in Tempe is sustained by tourism, the study shows.

Mayor Mark Mitchell called tourism an economic driver and catalyst for development. “This new tourism research study quantifies that impact by showing the direct link between visitors’ spending, business sales, jobs and local tax revenues," he said.

Tourism grows in Tempe

From 2011 to 2015, Tempe saw a 20 percent bump in visitors, from nearly 3.1 million people to 3.7 million people, along with an increase in direct spending from $572 million in 2011 to $730.6 million in 2015, according to the study.

Tourism Economics, a U.K.- and Pennsylvania-based company, conducted the study using 2015 data from a consumer research firm, other research groups, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Tempe Tourism Office.

The study defined visitors as those who stayed in overnight accommodations or day-trippers who traveled at least 50 miles to Tempe. Overnight visitors stayed an average of three nights, the study shows.

Tourists who stayed overnight spent on average $281 per trip, compared with day-trip visitors who spent an average of $64 per trip, according to the study.

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Where tourism dollars go

Restaurants and bars were the beneficiaries of most of the visitor spending at $181 million. Other areas of visitor spending were:

• $161 million spent on retail shopping.
• $155 million on local transportation.
• $142 million spent on lodging.
• $92 million on recreation.

When it comes to tax revenue, tourism generated $122 million, including $36.2 million in local tax hauls in 2015, the study shows.