INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS
July 20, 2012
Tourists spent a record $2.4 billion in the Tucson region last year, according to a new report from the Arizona Office of Tourism.
The amount topped the previous yearly record of $2.2 billion spent in 2006 and represents a 20 percent jump over the $2 billion spent in the region in 2010.
The report, presented July 12 at Gov. Jan Brewer’s conference on tourism, said the money coming in from tourists directly generated 22,000 jobs in Pima County, and added $537 million in earnings by the private sector and $135 million in tax revenues to federal, state and local governments.
Spending by tourists in Tucson represents about 13 percent of the $18.3 billion that was taken in state-wide last year. The state-wide amount didn’t show as dramatic improvement as happened in Tucson, up 3.4 percent from $17.7 billion in 2010.
Editor’s Note: For more on Tucson tourism, visit the Tucson Metropolitan Convention & Visitor’s Bureau page, visittucson.org.
