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Tourism office reports modest visitor spending gains, soft bed-tax trend and rising event bookings
Summary
Staff reported summer tournament activity, film permit revenue, a small year-over-year dip in bed tax collections, and a string of booked conferences and events that staff say will bring hotel room nights in coming years.
Prescott tourism staff and partners reported steady event activity this summer, rising film spending, and a bed-tax collection total that was modestly down year over year but slightly above the current fiscal-year budget.
Ryan, the city sports and film staffer, told the committee the city hosted 18 tournaments so far this year, with some events drawing roughly 50 to 77 teams and substantial local visitation. He said the office has a date set for a new Native Nations baseball tournament in June 2026 and that the city’s film office had permitted 16 projects so far this year; staff estimated film production spending in Prescott at about $383,000, up from $317,000 the previous year.
Marketing and group-sales staff reported lead generation and bookings: more than 110 new calls and emails, 42 new leads for potential events, 19 RFPs sent and five events booked in the recent stretch, according to a staff presentation. Staff listed several secured and prospective events, including USA Volleyball Prescott Shootout (expected to double room nights next year) and Western Writers of America annual conference (projected to require roughly 1,400 rooms in June 2028).
Bed-tax collections for fiscal year 2025 were reported ‘‘down year over year, 3.7% or about $60,000’’ from the prior year but were about $65,000 above the fiscal-year 2025 budget target, staff said. The tourism office cautioned that government travel cancellations in recent months have affected hotel bookings: staff noted several government blocks cancelled without deposits, which is difficult to recover.
Staff also reviewed digital analytics: the website reported about 14,000 active users in July, Instagram followers passed 13,000, and Google Ads and partner referrals were among top traffic sources. Staff offered to provide committee members with more detailed feeder-city data, including Denver and Los Angeles, at a future meeting.
