Arizona sees surge in number of Chinese visitors
Jul 24, 2017, 4:17 AM
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
PHOENIX — China isn’t Arizona’s top source of overseas visitors, but that could change soon.
The Arizona Office of Tourism says visitation from China increased 20 percent in 2016, compared to the previous year.
“For us, China is a rapidly growing market, and for the last seven years we’ve seen significant increases,” said Debbie Johnson, director of the Arizona Office of Tourism.
She said nearly 77,000 Chinese travelers came to Arizona last year, making China the state’s fourth largest source of overseas visitors. Those numbers could increase even more thanks to several recent media and travel-trade trips to China by the Arizona Office of Tourism.
“We talked to media members and folks in the trade industry about what Arizona has to offer,” Johnson said.
In addition, she said her office teamed up with an organization called Brand USA to bring to Arizona several journalists and influencers from China.
“We took them to several different destinations in Arizona, because then they get to see what we have to offer,” she said.
Also, the Arizona Office of Tourism has an Arizona representative on the ground in China and the office’s media relations manager who handles the Chinese market speaks fluent Mandarin.
Johnson said when Chinese visitors come to Arizona, they usually like to visit national attractions, such as the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley.
“In addition to the national parks that they love, they love to do road trips and they love to shop,” she said. “That’s a great thing for Arizona.”
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Chinese travelers spent $27 billion more in the U.S. in 2015. That’s more than any other international outbound market.
