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Tempe Tourism CEO Michael Martin reports a flat year, points to sports bookings and new marketing push
Summary
Michael Martin, president and CEO of the Tempe Tourism Office, told the council the local tourism industry was largely flat year‑over‑year and that a late‑year sports event and new marketing partnerships helped drive modest gains; he outlined planned campaigns, a public data dashboard and staffing changes.
Michael Martin, president and CEO of the Tempe Tourism Office, told the Tempe City Council during a work‑study presentation that the tourism sector was "very flat across the board" in the most recent reporting year but highlighted a few wins and several initiatives aimed at boosting visitation.
Martin said the office's annual impact work showed large overall stability in visitation and spending; he told council the office reported 4.46 million visitors in 2024 and described 2025 as registering only a "very slight" increase largely made up of day‑trippers rather than overnight stays. He cautioned that the transcript rendering of some figures is garbled; the office supplied the numbers during the presentation.
On lodging metrics, Martin said Tempe had roughly 7,180 rooms in inventory at the end of the year (noting some hotels temporarily remove rooms during renovation and the imminent Double Tree Hotel closure), and that average daily rate remained around $147. He said total hotel revenue was essentially steady year over year.
Martin highlighted sports and group sales as a key growth channel. He credited a citywide soccer tournament (MLS Next), coordinated with Mesa, for generating an estimated 7,000 room nights in December and likely contributing to a small uptick in occupancy. He said the sales team had produced roughly 681 leads and 157 bookings so far in the fiscal year.
On marketing, Martin pointed to a winter billboard campaign that lifted website visits in a target market, a new partnership with an LGBTQ+ publication that yielded strong newsletter open rates, and an in‑flight Wi‑Fi video ad that the office estimates drove thousands of trips to Tempe. He said paid media attribution for the campaigns was estimated to have influenced about 57,000 visits and roughly $6.4 million in visitor spending.
Looking ahead, Martin said the tourism office will run a summer hotel promotion with Booking.com, expand the Taste Tempe restaurant program, pursue social influencer activations and build a public dashboard to share industry data with city staff and stakeholders. He also said the office plans an organizational change that includes adding a chief operating officer role.
Vice Mayor Garland and other council members praised Martin and asked for continued periodic updates; Martin said he would share final fiscal figures once available and continue coordinating with city departments on revenue projections.
The presentation ran from the council's issue review introduction through the end of Martin's remarks; there was no council vote attached to the update.
