Arizona is a popular place with tourists. In fact, tourists spent more than $21 billion last year — a new record.
The new study from the Arizona Office of Tourism also found the state has become a popular destination for visitors from China. While they amount to a fraction of all international visitors, the number of Chinese visitors is growing.
"I think certainly Brand USA over the last several years has been marketing heavily to China. So we're seeing that," said Debbie Johnson, the agency’s executive director. "We have been marketing. We have had travel, trade representation in China for the past four years. And we have really seen that growth over those years continue to increase."
Chinese visitors tend to spend money too, which not only helps retailers but also the tax rolls of state and local governments.
Meanwhile, the majority of visitors come from Mexico, though tourism from that country has declined slightly.
in 2016, 43 million people visited Arizona. That’s up more than 2 percent over the prior year. Tourism from within the U.S. was up last year, although fewer international visitors came to the state.
Johnson mentioned visitation from Canada is down slightly, but new numbers from the Canada Arizona Business Council show snowbirds contribute almost $1.5 billion a year to the state’s economy. Glenn Williamson is that group’s Founder and CEO.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Capitol Media Services contributed to this story.
