I was finally able to sit down and dedicate a post to our recent trip to Arizona. Forewarning: It's pretty random. I also tried to cut out as much as I could to keep it as short as possible, just because it was really jam packed. So here's a #FBF to a couple of weeks ago:
Every year I am able to attend a conference for work where others in the tourism industry gather to basically "talk shop." This year that conference was held in Mesa, Arizona. To say we were spoiled would be an understatement. Mesa did an absolutely fabulous job hosting us and welcoming us to their city and the coordinators of the conference put together a great program.
Some quick highlights that I thought were interesting and relevant for this space was some demographics and traveling statistics for the different generations. While I don't really classify myself as a Millennial, I technically fall into that category and tracking this group's habits is on everyone's radar.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Millennials are not only more likely to consider multiple places prior to booking but that we are also really interested in a destination's culture. Visiting museums, the art and foodie scene is high on the priority list as well as having active vs. relaxing vacations. Millennials tend to get a bad rep so I found this statistic refreshing (Well done, fellow Millennials!). Surprisingly, even though they don't make as much as the older generations they still spend on average about the same as the other generations, but average 4.6 trips per year (more than the others in case you were wondering). Who knew?
Also, "Solar Freakin' Roadways"- watch the video. That is all.
I could ramble off more, including a night of fun with "dueling DJ's", but I would run out of time and space, so in a nutshell the conference this year was a success!
After the conference we met up with some friends. We first stopped at this place called Schnepf Farms,
It is located in Queen Creek-not far from Mesa, which I happened to hear about during the conference- I wish I had the time to tell you all about it as this place is pretty spectacular! They have a TON of really cool offerings and completely get the tourism market but are also really creative in keeping their product-FOOD- at the center of everything that they do. They also have some really exciting ventures coming down the pipeline. If you find yourself in the area, they are definitely worth the stop, and pay particular attention around holiday seasons and peach season!
While in Tucson we also visited Tombstone. A cute historic town documenting the happenings of all things western that have occurred in their town, the most notable being the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. For dinner we stopped at La Parrilla Suiza one of the restaurants located on Tucson's famous 32 mile trail of Mexican Food. It was quite good. The food was delicious the service was quick and friendly and the atmosphere was charming. I gave it five stars.
Our time with friends was too short, as always and we miss them dearly, but has us looking forward to the next time. Tucson, we will be back!
No comments:
Post a Comment