Article: New ASU Tourism Barometer Shows Industry Rise Since 1990
New ASU Tourism Barometer Shows Industry Rise Since 1990
January 6, 2009, Phoenix Business Journal, By Lynn Ducey
Arizona State University’s Megapolitan Tourism Research Center has launched the Sun Corridor Tourism Barometer, an online index to measure the health of the travel and tourism industry.
The barometer will include a monthly scorecard for businesses, destinations and industries in Arizona that are impacted financially by tourist visitation, researchers said.
It is an updated version of the Arizona Tourism Barometer produced by the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center from 1986 until December 2006.
The latest reading is 122.2, recorded for September 2008, showing a decline over the previous month and the year’s high point in March of 126.1, but a gain over January’s reading of 121.1. The numbers are based on a reading of 100 for activity in 1994.
Gains were steady from 1990 until the 2001 terrorist attacks and have been on a rebound since late that year.
The new barometer is expected to represent a region called the “Sun Corridor” of Arizona: Maricopa, Pinal, Pima, Yavapai, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties.
The index is expected to be seasonally adjusted and will be among several barometers that focus on tourism-intense regions nationwide.
ASU officials said the barometer is the first to launch and will be followed by a second barometer aimed at Northern California, which is being developed by San Jose State University.
“Travel and tourism is fundamental to the integrated economic development process, and measurement tools that capture the monthly trends in this industry will be important for management, policy and public information,” said Tim Tyrrell, director of the Megapolitan Tourism Research Center, in a statement. “Megapolitan areas include metropolitan areas, smaller cities and rural communities all tied together by the movement of goods, close business linkages, common cultures and physical environments. They are a growing force driving the integration of regional economies into the world economy.”
