Tourists gather around a horse-drawn carriage in Tombstone.Arizona tourism reached post-pandemic highs in 2022 with visitor spending reaching more than 28 billion dollars.
Arizona Office of Tourism reports tourists spent about $77 million every day last year across the state. Visitor spending increased by nearly 20% over 2021 and came close to 2019, which was the best year ever for tourism metrics across the state.
Arizona is really popular for its outdoor activities, says Josh Coddington with the Office of Tourism.
“That’s one thing that people come to our state for all the time,” he said. “The hiking opportunities, camping even.”
He says that there are renowned draws such as the Grand Canyon but also more local draws as well.
“Tucson and Southern Arizona have the majority of Arizona’s wine regions, so those are popular,” he said. “Of course there’s culinary, food. Everybody knows Tucson is amazing for food.”
Tourism is one of Arizona’s primary economic drivers, and all major tourism data points topped the previous year, including overnight visitation, visitor spending, taxes collected, jobs generated and tourism wages.
The report says that Arizona tourism tax revenues generated nearly $4 billion in 2022 from federal, state and local taxes, to support services such as health care, public safety and transportation. Nearly half-a-billion of that was generated in Pima County.
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