Business travel to Tucson is rebounding

[ad_1]

TUCSON, Ariz (KGUN) – There is good news to report on an important part of our local economy. Travel and tourism are recovering and our area has got the business community interested in bringing conventions here.

The Tucson countryside and lifestyle have been attracting more leisure travelers for more than three months. Now business travel is also revitalized – bringing big business meetings to the big resorts.

“People’s desire to go out and meet is stronger than ever,” said Graeme Hughes, senior vice president of sales at Visit Tucson, which works to attract leisure and business travelers.

He says most of the travel advertising industry didn’t expect the pandemic to last as long as it did before.

“But we were very aggressive. We did not close our outbound sales operations during the pandemic. We kept our team in place and focused on getting in touch with their customers and prospects, even though many plans didn’t move forward. We kept these communication channels open. “

Hughes says business meetings didn’t stop entirely, but 281 meetings were canceled from March 2020 through April this year. He says nearly half of those meetings have already committed to returning to Tucson with a busy fall and winter. He says 21 meeting planners came to Tucson last month to consider it for meetings that affect them.

Hughes says after COVID made people more sensitive to the space they are in, Tucson’s outdoor space is a strong selling point

“Great access to nature, lots of great outdoor venues and large open spaces is one of the slogans we use and it’s resonating well in today’s marketplace.”

And he says the Visit Tucson sales teams have planned some trips of their own. You have about 50 trips ahead of you to meet convention planners and convince them that Tucson is the right place for their event.

[ad_2]