Visit Yuma director details tourism growth, branding and hotel pipeline

Marcus Kearney, executive director of Visit Yuma, told the Yuma County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 3 that tourism generated $754,000,000 in economic spending in Yuma County in 2023 and supports roughly 6,200 local jobs.

Kearney said Visit Yuma — a 501(c)(6) nonprofit funded primarily by the City of Yuma and membership dues from businesses across Yuma County — is pursuing a countywide branding process, film recruitment, expanded public relations and a customer-service recognition program to help keep visitor demand up as new hotel capacity and short-term rentals grow.

The presentation matters because rising lodging supply, and a large increase in short-term rentals, are shifting demand and competition in the local hospitality sector. Kearney described coordinated branding and targeted marketing as ways to protect hotel revenue that supports local employment and tax receipts.

Kearney said Visit Yuma recorded about 226,000 website visitors and 1.4 million page views in the year before the meeting, and the organization reaches roughly 28,000 followers across social platforms. He said the Visit Yuma visitor center draws about 10,000 visitors annually.

Kearney highlighted three areas of emphasis:

- Branding and messaging: Visit Yuma is preparing a community “brand guide” intended to provide consistent messaging across nonprofits, cities, the county and the school district so the region presents a unified identity to visitors.

- Film and public relations: With Arizona’s reinstated film tax incentive, Visit Yuma is pursuing film projects (Kearney cited one called Desert Backyard expected to bring a 40–50 person production to the area for multiple weeks) and is working with PR firms and travel writers to place human-written stories rather than automated lists.

- Community and hospitality recognition: Visit Yuma launched a “Sunshine Award” to spotlight frontline customer-service workers; Kearney said 12 people were nominated in the first year and Visit Yuma now highlights four “Sunshine Ambassadors” annually with press coverage and networking opportunities.

Kearney presented lodging data showing 3,618 total hotel rooms in the county and said approximately 10 new hotels (about 1,000 rooms) are in various planning stages. He noted the county has about 475 active short-term rental listings compared with roughly 90 before the pandemic and that short-term rental revenue grew from about $8 million in 2023 to about $18 million in 2024 — a $10 million increase he described as revenue that partly shifts away from hotels.

Kearney said Visit Yuma represents the county as a whole, not only the city of Yuma, and called for partners from Somerton, San Luis and Wellton to participate in branding and centennial-related programming tied to the national semiquincentennial in 2026.

Board members thanked Kearney for the presentation and commented briefly about short-term rentals and hotel competition. There was no formal board action on the presentation.

Kearney closed by encouraging collaboration across tourism stakeholders and offering to follow up on specific questions.