Situation Analysis

Arts & Culture

• City of Sedona’s vision is to be a City Animated by The Arts
• Galleries: 80+ galleries and shops
• Artistic Community: Resident and visiting artists
• Events/Festivals: Large variety of weekly, monthly, and ongoing annual events such as Sedona Arts Festival, Sedona International Film Festiva, Red Rock Music Festival
• Native American heritage sites and culture
• Live entertainment • Performing Arts
• Film and Western history
• Public art installations
• Culinary: Variety of dining options and unique regional fare
• Area Wineries: American Viticultural Area designation
• Various Tours/Activities
  • Wine tastings and tours
  • History: Sedona Historical Society and Sedona Heritage Museum, nearby heritage sites and national monuments

Wellness

• World-renowned vortexes
• Wellness: Volume of quality resorts, spas, and luxury offerings
• Environment and amenities conducive to well-being including exercise and nutrition •
• Opportunities to connect with others and the community through events, dining, and voluntourism
• Spirit of interconnectedness
• Native American heritage sites and culture
• Events/Festivals: Large variety of ongoing annual events such as the Sedona Yoga Festival
• Various Tours/Activities 15 o
  • Metaphysical & Spiritual: World-renowned offerings including products, services, and treatments
  • Personal Enrichment: Exploration and education
  • Yoga Classes
  • Meditation Retreats
  • Healthy Cuisine, cooking classes

Outdoor Adventure

• Hiking: A system of more than 400 miles of accessible, interconnecting trails
• Biking: 200 miles of single track available; Sedona and surrounding areas are very bicycle-friendly for road bikes; Bicycle Friendly Community designation
• Air Tours: Hot air balloons, helicopters
• Land Activities: Jeep, ATV, Segway, Hummer, OHVs
• Water: River tours, fishing, swimming
• Golf: Public courses
• Birding: Opportunity to deepen engagement
• State Parks and nearby National Parks
• Scenic Drives: Oak Creek Canyon, Red Rock Scenic Byway, Dry Creek Scenic Rd
• Stargazing

Sustainability

• Sustainable Tourism Plan: Arizona’s first – a long-term community-developed plan that strives to balance four key pillars: quality of the underpinning tourism economy and amazing visitor experience with environment and resident quality of life.
• Sedona’s beautiful natural resources including the world-famous Red Rocks
• Oak Creek and the Verde River, one of Arizona’s few remaining flowing rivers/streams
• Certified green businesses through the Sedona Verde Valley Sustainability Alliance
• Voluntourism Opportunities: Oak Creek Watershed Council, Keep Sedona Beautiful, Sedona Recycles, Friends of the Verde River, Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund.
• Eco-Tourism: “responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (The International Ecotourism Society)
• Sedona Cares Pledge
• Sedona’s Secret 7
• Partnership with Leave No Trace
• Ongoing StrawFree Sedona program
• Transit Systems – Sedona Shuttle and Verde Shuttle

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Commitment from City of Sedona in partnership with the SCC&TB to sustain primary tourism economy and visitor management
• Strong SCC&TB generation of private sector revenues for tourism-related purposes • Sense of stewardship of and connection with the environment
• Leader in destination sustainability efforts: Sedona Sustainable Tourism Plan is Arizona’s first • Natural beauty of the Red Rocks and surrounding scenery, photo opportunities
• Sedona brand name recognition • Strong online reputation with high ratings • Strong attraction to high income visitors • High level of repeat visitation to destination – 45% (Source: 2018 STP Visitor Intercept Study)
• Variety of tourism products
• Love for the destination by residents and visitors (“Red Rock Fever”)
• Renowned outdoor recreation destination with nearly two million acres of open space • Connection and proximity to other desirable tourism destinations – Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Camp Verde, Jerome, Flagstaff – with different attractions that can be leveraged to attract visitors for longer stays and assist with visitor distribution
• Geographic proximity to major drive markets (Phoenix; Las Vegas)
• Proximity to the Grand Canyon National Park • Recognition as a prestigious art destination
• Recognition as health, wellness, alternative medicine destination • Diversity (geographic, businesses)
• Great weather, four mild seasons • Friendly and safe community • Small-town feel with larger city amenities
• Knowledgeable staff and volunteers at the Visitor Center
• Very strong Uptown Visitor Center connection – almost 300,000 visitors served annually pre-COVID; over 100,000 in FY21
• Above average lodging performance (Occupancy and ADRs) during COVID compared to southern Arizona counterparts
• Increased market share of Northern Arizona overnight visitation

Weaknesses

• Anti-tourism sentiment from local, vocal minority and their demands of City and SCC&TB staff
• Destination marketing “pause” for FY22 and FY23 by Sedona City Council
• Educating visitors on recreating responsibly was limited in FY22 to within city boundaries, prohibiting the ability to communicate with the larger public during their trip-planning phase
• Shrinking school district with socio-economic diversity erosion due to high cost of living and no housing inventory
• High labor demand with limited workforce supply
• High cost of living due to dramatic increase in home prices and low to no inventory
• Limited affordable housing affecting labor supply
• Short-term Rentals: Limited long-term rental units due to conversion to STR inventory
• Short-term Rentals: Impacts on traffic and neighborhoods, competing workforce needs with commercial hotel operators
• Infrastructure capacity issues
• Overcrowding at popular trails
• Traffic congestion during high seasons
• Lack of parking including parking for RVs and motor coaches
• USFS recreational use versus commercial permitted use, and convoluted Red Rock Pass system 17
• City sales and bed tax rates at upper end of competitive destinations • Limited knowledge of travel distribution system by local businesses
• Viewed by travel industry professionals as “too expensive,” “no room availability” or “too many regulations to bring visitors”
• Construction projects impacting visitation during continued Sedona In Motion road improvements
• Tax discrepancy with lodging outside of city limits and timeshares
• Limited air services in/out of Flagstaff and/or limited overseas air services in/out of Phoenix
• Minimal meeting space
• High labor turnover
• Low quality of service

Opportunities

• Capitalize on Phoenix convention market for pre/post overnight visitation
• Future Developments o Consider development of unique multi-use meeting venue o Future Developments – Uptown, Cultural Park o Development of multi-modal/walkability master plan o Create or establish visitor, RV and motorcoach-friendly parking areas
• Expand range of events, focusing on those that can be enhanced or have extended duration
• Sedona’s product in direct correlation with national/international travel trends
• Exchange rates/world economy
• Alignment with Arizona Office of Tourism’s efforts particularly related to seasonality
• Expanded range of public transportation
• Deepening attraction of meetings niche segments
• Product development in newer areas of tourism – arts, wellness, culinary, voluntourism
• Expanding visitor origin markets into markets with proven sustainable practices
• Enhance Red Rock Trail Fund program for additional trail amenities and maintenance
• Dispersing visitors to a variety of areas • Sedona In Motion infrastructure improvements
• Short-term Rentals – Embrace new market to positively affect inevitable shift in lodging options
• Increased/returned domestic and international air service to Phoenix, Flagstaff and Prescott

Threats

• Wildfires, Forest closures, road closures
• Ongoing COVID-related issues such as the introduction of variants and the impacts
• Competition from other destinations – significant expansion in their destination marketing budgets particularly coming out of COVID-19 as SCC&TB marketing continues to be paused
• Arizona destinations positioning Sedona as a day trip destination
• USFS: Permitting process and minimal commercial permits potential restrictions
• “Instagrammable Travel”: Managing user-generated content that promotes high-use areas
• Decrease in work force supply
• Continued growth of Short-term Rentals
• Immigration reform – negative perceptions directed to Arizona
• ADOT road changes and construction projects
• Population growth in Maricopa County and other drive markets
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