Tempe Tourism reports $1.12 billion in visitor spending in 2024 and 4.5 million visitors

Michael Martin, CEO of the Tempe Tourism Office (doing business as the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau), presented the office’s annual tourism impact summary to the City Council on Wednesday, reporting growth in visitation, hotel activity and marketing reach.

Martin said the office’s 2024 economic‑impact study, conducted by Tourism Economics, showed about 4.5 million visitors to Tempe and roughly $1.12 billion in direct visitor spending in calendar year 2024. Martin said the city supported about 7,000 direct jobs tied to tourism and that hotel inventory in Tempe totals about 7,241 rooms.

Martin reviewed key hotel metrics: rooms sold in 2024 were about 1.75 million (up from 1.5 million in 2021), average daily rate increased from roughly $103 in 2021 to about $147–$150 in recent years, and total hotel revenue in 2024 was reported at approximately $257 million. He noted that some county‑level funding (referred to in the presentation as “Prop 302”) and the city bed‑tax contract provide the tourism office’s core funding and that the office also receives advertising and cooperative funds from private partners.

Martin highlighted marketing and sales achievements: Tempe made Cvent’s top‑50 list for meetings destinations, launched a new brand, website, destination video and ad campaign, and increased digital reach with tens of millions of advertising impressions and strong social media engagement. He said the tourism office will publish a five‑year strategic plan this summer, expand a summer promotion for hotels and restaurants and continue partnerships for sports, meetings and community events.

Council members praised the tourism office’s partnerships and marketing wins and asked a few operational questions. No change in the city’s bed‑tax contract or budget was proposed. Martin closed by noting that the office will release a fuller annual report for the fiscal year with final numbers after June.