THIS ARTICLE APPEARS IN THE RED ROCK NEWS

June 9, 2023

 

 

Keeping our finger on the pulse of what is happening with Arizona’s lodging, hospitality and tourism is essential.

Last week, the Northern Arizona Council of Governments [NACOG] presented a “Lunch and Learn” in Flagstaff with Kim Sabow, president and CEO of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association [AzLTA] and Nicole La Slavic, vice president of Government Affairs.

Their presentation discussed critical state and industry updates, workforce challenges and solutions, reiterating how our voice can make an impact on shaping public policy.

About 50 people were in attendance from all areas of the state, including the city of Cottonwood, the Town of Camp Verde, and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau.

Stan Kantowski, Managing Director of Enchantment Resort & Mii Amo is on the Executive Committee and Lonnie Lillie, General Manager of Arroyo Pinion Hotel and myself, serve on the Board of Directors of AzLTA.

Working with the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the U.S. Travel Association (USTA), the AzLTA informs and advocates at the Federal level in support of strengthening the business operating environment for hotels and resorts, travel, tourism, professional sports and small businesses that support the industry.

Stan Kantowski notes, “The AzLTA organization is crucial to promote the Tourism and Lodging industry interest on the local, state and national level. Since Northern Arizona’s primary business is tourism, it is very beneficial to be on the Board to lobby and discuss local issues that affect businesses,” he said. “Being on the Board also allows us to take a deeper dive into current issues that later can be communicated with local businesses and push to protect and promote the industry.”

AzLTA, the statewide voice of advocacy for Arizona’s lodging and tourism industry, represents over 1400 hotels and resorts, Arizona’s sports teams, venues, airlines, airports, destination marketing organizations and hundreds of businesses that supply goods and services to the industry.

“I say it’s an industry where there really isn’t a sector with which we don’t directly intersect. It’s pretty much our state’s economy and really the global economy,” Sabow stated.

During the presentation, Sabow expressed how the competitiveness of tourism is global.

“We’ve got beautiful weather, golf courses, open areas, national parks, things of that nature, and I think oftentimes it’s easy when the policy is being set to think, “Well, we’ve got all these natural God-given assets, the visitors, the businesses, the conventions, they’ll just come.  Not so!” Sabow said. “It’s a very, very highly competitive industry. It’s always so important to remind policymakers about the importance of investing in this industry, positioning, promoting and elevating it so that we remain competitive”, Sabow said. “And we keep that lifeblood flowing through our rural communities throughout the state. Having said that, despite the incredible contributions, this industry is facing unprecedented challenges on a number of levels. We advocate at the local, state and federal levels … it’s important that we have boots on the ground and ear to the ground, day in and day out. Because again, this industry is facing unprecedented challenges from every imaginable angle.”

Sabow indicates that although it looks like tourism is booming, the industry is hurting with a lack of employees, housing for workers, and legislation that may not be supportive.

AzLTA’s pillars are focused on advocacy, education and collaboration.

Sabow mentioned that although mega-events such as the Super Bowl might happen in Maricopa or the Phoenix area, it has a ripple effect on the rest of the state.

“The ripple effect impacts the state and all the counties,” Sabow said. Data on visitors that come in for the mega-events tack on additional days to stay and visit Southern Arizona, Northern Arizona, you name it. So those mega-events really, really helped drive dollars.”

Sabow has been back and forth to Washington D.C. advocating at the federal level for things such as an increase in H-2B Visas to help with seasonal workers, advocating for decreased visa wait times, and advocating for the position of instituting a cabinet-level tourism representative. Resorts such as Enchantment, look to hire seasonal employees, so the work that Sabow is doing with H-2B Visas will help us tremendously.

Having a Sedona team on the Board of AzLTA is essential because not only we can help advocate for important issues that affect our state but our region as well.

Sabow and her team will be in Sedona on August 16 for AzLTA’s Tourism Industry Forecast Event which will be held at Enchantment Resort. SCC&TB networking mixer will follow.

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–Michelle Conway, President/CEO
Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau

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