Prescott tourism committee approves minutes, receives updates on Liberty Bell tour, film advertising and grant-scoring schedule

The Prescott City Tourism Advisory Committee approved minutes for Aug. 27 and Sept. 10 and received staff briefings on tourism marketing, grant scoring and upcoming events at its October meeting.

The committee welcomed Michael Pantaleone as a new member and heard from Christina Binkley, Prescott tourism manager, who gave a Q1 budget update and outlined the committee's calendar for next year. "Q1 is usually our heaviest spend...and we are right on track," Binkley said.

Binkley told members that the committee's long grant-scoring meeting on April 29, 2026, will run 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will include a lunch break followed by an executive session in which tourism grants will be scored in closed session. "We're going to break into lunch and then we're going to do an executive session where grants are scored behind closed doors," she said. She asked members to complete preparatory reading a week or two before that meeting.

Economic and marketing updates included the introduction of Danielle Trotter as the city's new public engagement manager and a note that John Heiney, the recently retitled economic initiatives director, was attending an industry convention in Phoenix. Trotter said her goal is "to create a more connected community that includes residents, business owners, and any other community stakeholders."

Binkley also announced several promotional efforts: Prescott has been selected as a stop for the state’s replica Liberty Bell as part of America 250 activities (date to be announced), working groups are forming for America 250 and Route 66 celebrations, and the city helped create a film-office advertising piece that will be shown at the American Film Market to pitch Prescott as a filming location.

Staff provided digital and performance metrics for September: the Experience Prescott website recorded about 16,000 active users, roughly 212 event conversions, 2,300 direct users and 1,400 referrals. Social metrics included roughly 14,000 Instagram followers, 305,000 post views and a Facebook reel that drew about 105,000 views.

Mike (sales and bookings) said event bookings under discussion include a potential Arizona Building Officials gathering expected to require 150-plus rooms, a returning NCM corporate meeting needing about 70 rooms, and exploratory interest from a skate/sport event with an initial estimate of 100–150 participants. Short-term-rental and lodging metrics through August show occupancy up about 4.1% to 69.5%; year-to-date occupancy was reported at about 64.1%. Average daily rate (ADR) through August was reported around $137.59, down a few percentage points year over year; a recent week showed a sharp short-term spike in occupancy and ADR.

Parks and recreation staff said they are finalizing the 2026 tournament calendar and noted a Veterans Day parade set for Nov. 11. Committee members shared event updates from their organizations, including a downtown partnership annual meeting Oct. 23, a holiday light parade on Nov. 29 and several museum and festival events scheduled through the end of the year.

Committee member Michael Pantaleone said he is "looking forward to the city council meeting next Tuesday" when he hopes council will approve a proposed $2,500,000 gift for improvements to Ken Lindley Field; Pantaleone said the matter requires city council action. Councilwoman Lois (first name only in the record) updated the committee on an SR-89 public comment period that she said closes the following day and reminded residents that ballots for the Nov. 4 city election are being mailed. Lois also described Proposition 485 on the ballot as a vote on the APS franchise agreement, which she said is required every 25 years by Arizona state statute and provides the city a 2% payment derived from APS receipts in city limits.

The committee adjourned at 11:46 a.m.

(See "Votes at a glance" for formal action taken.)