A study conducted by Tourism Economics found that in 2015, the city of Tempe welcomed 3.7 million visitors that brought in $730.6 million in direct expenditures to the area. Combining these expenses along with the amount of direct spending as well as induced and indirect impacts, The Tempe Tourism Office announced that Tempe generated business sales that totaled of $1 billion.

The study was dubbed, “The Economic Impact of Tourism in Tempe, Arizona.” The research of this study gives an in-depth look at how tourism has left a positive impact on the burgeoning city. These reports looked at how visitor spending, employment, income, and tax revenues were all in better standing thanks to tourism growth.

Based on the 2015 calendar year, the research was conducted by Tourism Economics, who are a division of the Oxford Economics Company. The parent company is based in both Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom. The was consolidated from numerous outlets, including:

• Smith Data Research (STR) on the supply, demand, revenues, mean prices, and the rates of occupancy for hotel services.

• United States Census Data that covers sales and employees listed by industry

• Bed tax data collected by the Tempe Tourism Office.

• D.K. Shifflet, a national consumer research company’s files on visitor profile data and spending estimates.

Key notable points from this research found the following:

Visitor Expenditures

On average visitors who spent an overnight stay in Tempe spent an average of $281 per trip. Day visitors spent $64 per trip on average.

Tempe’s visitors mainly spent their money on food and beverage services. Food and beverage spending totals equaled $181 million. $161 million was spent on shopping in retail stores, $155 million went toward transportation, $142 million was spent on lodging, and $92 million went toward recreation.

Visitor Volume and Spending

Day trip visitors typically traveled at least 50 miles to get to Tempe. The average overnight guest of Tempe spent 3 nights.

The amount of visitor of volume and spending has continually increased in Tempe from 2011 through 2015. 3.084 million visited Tempe in 2011, while 3.7 million made the journey in 2015. That is a whopping 20% increase. Visitor spending also spiked in those years, as it went from $572 million in 2011 to $730.6 million in 2015.

Taxes and Jobs

Tourism generated $122 million in tax revenues for Tempe in 2015. This includes $26.2 million local taxes.

The tourism business keeps 8,467 employed in Tempe. That breaks down to 7.9% of the jobs in the Arizona city. “The City of Tempe recognizes tourism as a significant economic driver and a catalyst for development,” proudly stated the city’s Mayor, Mark Mitchell. “This new tourism research study quantifies that impact by showing the direct link between visitors’ spending, business sales, jobs and local tax revenues.”