Arizona launches Web tourism giveaways to increase visits

Arizona tourism officials hope that tempting prizes will serve as a foot in the door to getting bodies into hotel rooms this summer.

John Stearns
The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Office of Tourism launched its "Arizona Getaways & Giveaways" promotion on the Internet today, offering people a chance at 300 travel, recreation and other prizes worth $25 to $8,000. But the main goal is to entice people who are trying for the prizes to browse the many Arizona summer travel deals, hop in their vehicle, visit and spend.

"It’s to get people to really, really focus on the getaways part of it," tourism Director Margie Emmermann said of the vacation values that Arizona destinations are offering. "We’ve got some tremendous values that many destinations are providing."

Visitors to the "giveaways" site – http://www.arizonagive aways.com – also will find an icon to click, Arizona Getaways, that will take them to a site listing 400 discounts for Arizona attractions.

The campaign is meant to capitalize on surveys indicating that more people intend to vacation closer to home and look for values this summer amid the soft economy and other concerns. The more money people spend in-state, the more the economies of the state, cities and rural areas that are heavily dependent on tourism will benefit, Emmermann said.

The Tourism Office is spending $55,000 on the summer travel campaign. Prizes are being donated.

Three grand prizes are to be awarded at the end of the three-month campaign:

• "Arizona Rocks": A northern Arizona adventure valued at $8,000 that will provide six people with a four-day trip that includes a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon and a Monument Valley hike with Navajo guides.

• Lake Powell houseboat vacation: A six-day adventure on a 59-foot boat for up to 12 people, valued at $6,000.

• Suite getaway: A three-night stay at Four Seasons Scottsdale that includes spa treatments and luxury amenities, valued at $4,225. Other prizes include everything from a Route 66 neon clock to rounds of golf to adventure travel packages.

The Tourism Office hopes the campaign will increase traffic to its Web site by at least 20 percent.

Mesa supports the campaign, said Rick Elder, spokesman for the Mesa Arizona Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"I think it’s really the thing to do," he said of the state and regional convention and visitors bureaus trying to boost in-state travel and entice visitors from neighboring states.

Tourism Office spokesman James Ahlers said the prizes and travel specials are an incentive to bring people to the Web site.

"The more traffic we get through the Web site, the better we can promote in-state travel," he said. "It’s in keeping with the lean budget. We’re really trying to follow the trends in travel and adapt and change as needed. We need to make the best use of our resources."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0527aztourism27.html