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Celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week with Tempe, Arizona

We’re celebrating National Travel & Tourism Week May 2-8, 2021 

Tempe, Arizona is located in the heart of Metropolitan Phoenix. Refreshingly offbeat, Tempe is a college town with a personality all its own. It’s a welcoming destination with a spirited lifestyle where you’ll find fun-filled activities at every turn. Let’s help you learn more about our city. 

This year we celebrate the POWER OF TRAVEL.

Tempe loves Tourism 

According to the 2018 Tourism Economics Impact Study, approximately 4 million travelers spend $851 million in Tempe annually. 

  • $219 million on food and beverage 
  • $185 million on retail shopping 
  • $174 million on local transportation 
  • $171 million on lodging 
  • $103 million on recreation 

Tourism contributes more than $83 million in local and state taxes which: 

  • Saves the average Tempe household $1,200 
  • Supports essential services such as police and fire 
  • Adds to the quality of life by providing funds for parks, sports, transportation and arts programs 
  • Sustains 1 in 14 Tempe jobs 

* You can learn more about the economic benefits of Tourism on Tempe, here. 

National Plan For Vacation Day 

We️ love our fierce state! On January 28, 2021, we encouraged you to embrace National Plan For Vacation Day! Yes, it’s a real day that we should all celebrate. We want you to experience Tempe, Arizona, whether you are a first-time visitor or you’re a native to the state. In January, we shared that 768 million vacation days went unused in 2018. We know that this number increased in 2020 due to COVID-19 but we want to beat that statistic as we dream about traveling this summer and into 2022.  

*Save the date: National Plan For Vacation Day is January 26, 2022 

There has never been a better time than now to start planning a vacation. You can use Instagram for inspiration for your favorite or dream destinations. (I have my own “travel” collection of Instagram posts that I’ve “bookmarked” to save activities, restaurants, photo ops, etc.)  

use the bookmark feature on a post to “save” a photo to a specific collection of photos you like
you can view your collection of photos from various places to remind yourself of what you wanted to do on your next trip

To help refresh and regenerate after the year we’ve all had, you may want to get outside and enjoy the Arizona sunshine. We curated a full list of things to do outside to stay healthy and feel good this time of year. Remember to practice social distancing.

Embracing the Power of Travel during a pandemic 

The coronavirus public health crisis has had a devastating impact on the U.S. travel and tourism industry — and the entire American economy. It is clear, our country cannot fully recover without a robust return of travel. The travel industry will rebuild our economy, rehire America’s workforce, rescue small businesses, reconnect America and revive our communities. That is the POWER OF TRAVEL.

Shop Local. Eat Local. 

Tempe has a hype downtown area next to Arizona State University where you’ll find more than 75 restaurants and shops at your leisure, with many serving you for dine-in, delivery and curbside pickup. And, there are lots of local favorite businesses throughout the city.

Residents can support local merchants and restaurants now by ordering gifts online where available, purchasing gift cards for future use, and ordering takeout meals for curbside pickup or delivery.  

Dream now, visit later 

Tempe is a wonderful destination for families, couples or solo travelers. If you’re not quite ready to travel, don’t worry, Tempe will be here ready for you when you are! Start planning what could be your best itinerary yet. We’d recommend taking a look at our Pinterest boards for some of our best planning tools or check out some featured articles from visiting bloggers that share their own experiences. 

FAMILY TRAVEL 

ARIZONA ROAD TRIPS 

INFLUENCER/BLOGGER INSPIRED TRAVEL 

Thank you to our hospitality and frontline workers who continue to propel the community with their relentless efforts. 

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Follow us on social media channels @TempeTourism and for a chance to be featured, use #OurTempe.

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