Arizona’s tourism industry has outpaced the rest of the nation in its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
A new report released this week from the Arizona Office of Tourism found that in 2021 there were 40.9 million overnight visitors in Arizona and they spent $23.6 billion.
Compared to 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic that significantly impacted travel and tourism, 2021’s visitor spending was 92% of 2019’s number. The U.S. recovered 76% of 2019 spending levels in 2021.
While Arizona is getting close to its 2019 tourism numbers, the way it is doing it is very different than two years ago. Spending was only down 8% from 2019, but in 2021 total overnight visitors were down 13% compared to 2019 – meaning that fewer visitors were spending more while in the state.
