In May, Dennis Hoffman was hopeful about the state’s economic recovery following the pandemic — not overly so, but enough to speak positively about our potential to attract visitors even now.
“You know, Arizona might actually be poised to capture even a larger share of these people than we have historically, you know, leveraging off our wide open spaces," Hoffman said.
Hoffman is an economist and director of the Seidman Research Institute at the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU. He and other economists said Arizona may actually be even more attractive to visitors looking to keep more than 6 feet between them and others.
But the latest numbers from the Arizona Office of Tourism suggest that’s not enough. The office has reported nearly $1 billion in lost revenue from travel and nearly 60% of associated jobs.
The Show caught up with Hoffman to find out where these latest numbers leave us — and how far off a recovery looks now.
