According to a study undertaken by the Arizona Office of Tourism, visitors to tribal attractions and resorts in the state stay longer and spend more than in other areas. The 18-month study, conducted by the Arizona Hospitality Research & Resource Center at Northern Arizona University. is expected to provide the background information necessary to target marketing programmes for Arizona, and has already highlighted the fact that only 11% of those travelling to tribal areas include children.

In recent years urban sprawl has brought development closer to once remote tribal lands. Indian communities have also been undertaking widespread development, including tourist attractions such as casinos, golf courses, arts festivals, rodeos and desert jeep tours. Over 54% of visitors to Arizona’s tribal lands indicated that the tribe was the primary destination and visitor satisfaction is high – 9.2 on a scale of 1 to 10 and 98% indicating they would recommend the trip to friends and family.

Arizona, which has Class III tribal gaming, is home to 22 tribes operating 32 casinos. However, sightseeing, recreation and shopping were predominantly named by tourists as reasons for visiting tribal lands. On average each group of travellers spent US$198 per day shopping. With the latest tourism study available, Arizona tribes will be looking to provide and market more family oriented facilities in order to build on their present success in attracting visitors. (E-06.27.06)

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