What do you think – should people have to pay to get rescued?

A couple weeks ago there was a big hand painted sign stuck on the side of the road on Second Mesa, on the Hopi Reservation…”Snake Dance closed to non-Indians.” Village leaders cited a lack of respect for Hopi traditions. It’s not a new problem. For 70 years the Smoki (Smoke-Eye) people—a group of white businessmen in Prescott—performed a version of the Snake Dance after some of their members traveled to the reservation in the early 1900s. But it underscores a difficult balance for the Hopi—how to encourage tourism while also protecting their ancient culture. Arizona Public Radio’s Daniel Kraker has the final story in our series Tourism in Tough Times.

“I’ve confiscated cameras,” recalls Micah Lomaomvaya. “I’ve taken out rolls of film, because I knew they were doing something they weren’t supposed to do.”

Lomaomvaya remembers tourists driving through his village of Shongopavi. They’d often take pictures of his clan’s eagles, which are used in some Hopi religious ceremonies.

“Of course it was the most inappropriate thing to take a picture of,” he says. “I really didn’t have a problem with telling them to give me their film.”

20 years later, Lomaomvaya, with his long jet-black hair pulled back, is now welcoming those tourists. A trained archaeologist, he now runs his own company, Hopi Tours, full-time.

“My main initiative is to educate people,” he says. “There are lines within our culture that can’t be crossed, but also to show those things that we can share with them.”

Lomaomvaya calls it “cultural education” tourism. He says most of his clients are respectful, they just don’t understand what’s appropriate.

Indeed being a tourist on the Hopi reservation takes some fortitude. There are only a handful of gas stations and restaurants dotting the lonesome landscape. There aren’t any signs directing visitors to attractions. There aren’t even any street addresses.

“You’re going to have to stumble your way around until eventually you find the right person that points you in the right direction,” says Gary Tso, another Hopi tour guide.

Tso’s company is called the Left Handed Hunter Tour Company. His goal is also to educate outsiders, to provide an honest and positive view of Hopi people. But his second aim is to introduce tourists to Hopi artists.

“75% of the economy on the rez is based upon art and therefore tourism,” Tso says. “So another thing I do is help drive traffic to these vendors. Hopefully so we can all benefit from this visitation.”

Tso himself is a kachina doll carver. When we met he was sawing a piece of cottonwood root in his house on Second Mesa. Eventually it will be a colorful White Bear kachina.

“I’m not getting rich,” he admits, “but it provides me a certain lifestyle. I’m a single father, it allows me to stay at home, it’s really important for me to be at home when my kids get home, and be here when they leave every day.”

It also keeps him close to the phone to make reservations for his tour business, which he started 12 years ago. At the time his was the only Hopi-owned tour company. Now there are at least a dozen. Arts and crafts galleries have also sprouted up along the highway that crosses the reservation.

Still, Tso says Hopi people have always been ambiguous about tourism. “It brings positive changes,” he says, “but negative ones as well. How will we change once we begin to experience more visitation? But, other than coal, I don’t see any other resources as far as us building a modern kind of economy.”

But it’s a resource that’s largely untapped. Tony Skrelunas directs the Native America Program at the Grand Canyon Trust. He’s also the former Economic Development Director for the Navajo Nation.

“Hopi,” he says, “is one of the tribes where you see this tremendous tourism potential, from the cultural tourism, to the foods, to the homes, you have all those possibilities.”

Skrelunas helped develop a tourism strategic plan for the Hopi tribe two years ago. He recommended the creation of a quasi-governmental tourism authority, similar to what exists on the Navajo Nation, which collects a hotel occupancy tax and funnels it back into its tourism program. Hopi officials say that’s still probably at least two years away.

In the meantime Skrelunas says Hopi villages need to decide what kind of tourism they want. “Do they want big busses coming to their ceremonies? Do they have someone give a talk to the tourists before they set foot on their land? He says those are the kinds of questions the Hopi need to answer.

Skrelunas believes both the Hopi and Navajo nations should target more affluent tourists: educated, culturally sensitive visitors looking for an alternative to DisneyLand.

“That’s the potential I see with these two tribes,” he says. “Visitors paying top dollar to stay at a sheep camp, or going to Hopi to help plant, help harvest. There’s a lot of potential there. To me, that’s a better experience for the people, the community and also the visitor.”

And that’s exactly the experience the Hopi village of Moenkopi is hoping to create. The Moenkopi Development Corporation is building the Moenkopi Legacy Inn, slated to open in October. The hotel will offer 100 rooms, a conference center, a huge pool, even an outdoor area with a replica of a kiva, an underground ceremonial chamber. General Manager Randy Wolf says he hopes to make the hotel a tourist gateway to Hopiland.

“The angle that we’re going towards,” he says, “is tours at the villages and on the mesas. There are artists out there that will just knock your socks off. We want to take people their in tours and introduce them.”

But the overarching goal of any tourism effort on the Hopi reservation is to create jobs. The hotel, together with a new travel center and restaurant, will create over 100 new positions in Moenkopi. Which allow Hopi people like Veera Pooyouma, who works for the Development Corporation, to come home.

“I looked into coming back home for quite a while,” she says, but there were no jobs. “This is a great opportunity for people like me to come home, to work for their own people.”

Some Hopi, though, are likely to be squeamish about vanloads of new tourists, despite the economic boost they’ll bring. The hotel plans to post on its website a calendar of Hopi religious ceremonies that are open to the public. But Randy Wolf insists they’ll educate visitors about how to behave. As he puts it: “No shirt, no shoes, no ceremony.”

Posted in three parts:

1. Tourism is down in areas like Prescott and Sedona.  Arizona Public Radio’s Daniel Kraker and guest discuss what tourism means for northern Arizona.

2. Certain attractions are the main draw to our region.  In this segment, guests and callers examine wehre the crowds are and are not going.

3. Does our region rely too heavily on tourism?  Guests and caller weigh in. 

Flagstaff and other cities on the Colorado Plateau have yet to develop effective partnerships that would lengthn visitor statys and boost earnings.

A map of the Grand Circle puts Flagstaff in the southwest quadrant. Page is closer to the center, with Cortez, Colo., closer still. But with 11 national parks, 16 national monuments and portions of more than 20 scenic highways inside the circle, it’s the kind of map that one would think cities, businesses and tourist destinations would have been promoting for decades.

The idea has long been to market the attractions of the Four Corners as a week-long or even 10-day vacation, not a stopover day at the Grand Canyon for East Coast or Midwest tourists on their way west to Disneyland. But even though the Grand Circle Association celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, you won’t see its map in many places other than on its Web site.

And when ads for local destinations do appear in national magazines and publications, they tout an individual state or a city inside the Grand Circle, not the circle itself. Cooperation and coordination apparently come slowly in an industry as fiercely competitive as tourism, and whether things will change in the next quarter-century on the Colorado Plateau is doubtful.

DIFFERENT MARKETING STRATEGY

Take Flagstaff, for example. With nearly 5,000 hotel rooms, the city would have much to gain from an East Coast marketing campaign that puts it at the center of a “Grand Circle” of day trips, ending each night back at a Flagstaff motel room. A six-night, seven-day package would mean more than a doubling of the average length of stay by the typical Flagstaff tourist, and right in the class of tourist — traditional vacationer — that accounts already for more than half of all visitors.

But Flagstaff officials went for a different type of visitor with this year’s marketing campaign: They put $250,000 toward Phoenix heat “refugees” and Los Angeles weekend “staycationers” just in case Grand Canyon visitation went into the tank.

But the Canyon retained its appeal month in and out this year, despite the deepening recession. Visitation is off by less than 2 percent and the national park is again on track to top 4.5 million visitors for the year.

And the Arizona Cardinals, fresh off a Super Bowl appearance, drew crowds three and four times larger than normal during their three-week stay at NAU.

Would Flagstaff’s summer weekends, then, have been just as busy without the extra ads? Or, as the consultant who prepared this year’s visitor study for the city notes, would the city be getting more bang for its buck by focusing on the longer-staying vacationer and business/leisure traveler — and perhaps changing the economic profile of the industry, too?

LOW-PAID JOBS

That profile, although growing in total economic impact, still focuses on some of the lowest paid jobs in the region. Figures compiled by a consultant for the state of Arizona show that jobs in accommodations and food service account for more than 22 percent of the Coconino County non-farm workforce — only jobs in government make up a higher percentage. Yet when it comes to income, those hospitality jobs generate just $248 million a year, or 13 percent of personal wage income countywide.

When broken down by sub-occupations, the industry clearly pays far below the county median of $27,060 a year. Lodging managers, according to a state study, do earn $54,900 a year and food service managers $32,490.

But the median annual pay in food preparation and related jobs is $16,310, with restaurant cooks earning $22,200 and hosts and hostesses $15,810. Hourly pay for waiters and waitresses amounts to $15,550, but that does not include tips.

In lodging, a supervisor of janitorial or housekeeping staff earns $30,570, but the maids and housekeepers themselves earn $17,140. A hotel or resort desk clerk earns $17,000, while a ticket agent or travel clerk brings home $24,300.

CHANGE THE VISITOR PROFILE

 One way to raise wages is to inject more money into the industry by having higher spending per visitor. The 2009 Flagstaff visitor study surveyed 1,000 visitors and found sharply higher spending by a minority of visitors, raising the average to double the median spending level (half above, half below) in some categories. It turns out that the 17 percent of all visitors had household incomes above $135,000, the single biggest cohort of visitors.

Those big spenders appear to be in the categories of business/leisure traveler ($532 per day), weekender ($331) and “visiting friends and relatives” ($227). But those three categories combined account for less than a quarter of all visitors to Flagstaff, and only the business/leisure traveler, at 14 days, stays for an extended length of time.

But when the spending is broken out by party instead of per person, the traditional vacation party seems worth further investment. This group accounts for 52 percent of all visitors and spends a healthy $548 a day while staying an average of four days. Bump that spending up by a few hundred dollars a day with more Grand Circle events and lengthen the visit by two days across several hundred thousand visitors, and the vacation party upgrade would single-handedly change the profile of staffing and wages in the Flagstaff hospitality sector.

BBB AS SEED MONEY

For Flagstaff residents generally, tourism after the recession will continue to be felt through the distribution of proceeds from the Bed, Board, and Beverage tax. This comes in at $5.2 million a year, and at least three-quarters of that total is paid by out-of-towners. Of that amount, nearly a third — $1.5 million — goes back into tourism promotion and support to keep the tourists — and dollars — rolling in. Extrapolations from visitor surveys put the total economic impact of tourism in Flagstaff alone at $501 million, including 5,400 jobs and $30 million in local tax revenue. How much of that is due to that $1.5 million investment a year is difficult to say, but its unlikely city officials would run a test by cutting the allocation. The question is whether tourism marketers would redirect some of the funds toward a Grand Circle strategy, assuming a Colorado Plateau coalition is ever developed.

That leaves $3.7 million to go to four other purposes, led by $1.7 million for parks and recreation on the theory that the locals deserve some urban open space and trails to escape the tourists. Lesser amounts go to beautification, economic development and arts and sciences, but all are paid for largely by nonresidents.

The renewal of the 2 percent BBB tax looms next spring in the May municipal election. Tourism in Flagstaff might not have reached its full potential, but it’s difficult to imagine much opposition to the BBB. As long as the Grand Canyon is around, goes the saying, so will be the tourists. Add to that the BBB, and maybe the Grand Circle will one day become more than just a line on a map.

Reach Randy Wilson at rwilson@azdailysun.com.

Horses wait to give tourists a ride in Sedona. Click for a slideshow.

Whether you’re an avid hiker, an art collector, a vortex seeker, or just want to get pampered for a few days, Sedona offers something for just about every vacationer. Nearly three million tourists flock to the red rocks every year, pumping millions of dollars into the community. But that tourism-heavy economy has felt the impacts of the recession. Lucrezia Cuen has the next installment of our series Tourism in Tough Times.

Traveling less and spending less is a common pattern among tourists this year.  This means holiday sites across America are feeling the pinch, Sedona among them. With its red rocks, hiking trails, art galleries, high-end resorts and metaphysical mystique, Sedona usually attracts upwards of two-point-eight million tourists a year.  This year because of the recession, that number is down almost a quarter million. Visitor levels are down 8%. 

For many visitors, the Sedona experience is a ride into the back country in an open Jeep.  The biggest company is Pink Jeeps, an iconic Sedona institution for half a century.  Owner Shawn Wendell says his business is nosing into a double-digit decline. “You know 9/11 affected the tour business and also whenever we have a forest fire or forest closure that affects us,” Wendell says.  “So we have to ride these kind of waves of changes, not just this new economic tsunami that’s hit us. “

That tsunami is not just in visitor numbers.  Retail sales are down almost 17% from last year.  In a town of only 17,000 residents, almost wholly reliant on a half billion dollar tourist trade, things look bleak.  At Enchantment—the top end of Sedona’s luxury resorts, tucked away in its own 70-acre red rock canyon—room occupancy is down 10 to 12%. As a result the resort has trimmed the payroll.  Manager Annika Jackson says the first to go have been part-time workers. “The people who are full-time, I mean that’s who depends on us for their families, their rent, their food and that’s who we take care of,” Jackson says.

The majority of Sedona’s visitors stay in timeshares, and that industry is in real trouble.  ILX Resorts, which owns Sedona’s prestigious Los Abrigados hotel and spa, has filed for bankruptcy protection.  Others are cutting sales forces and curbing guest services. 

The economic downturn has not only hurt resorts and hotels.  All across Sedona businesses and people are tightening their belts as the effects of the recession trickle down into restaurants, bike shops and art studios.  In a ceramics studio on the north end of town Dennis Ott grabs a large clay pot fresh from the wheel. “Probably 75 pounds worth of clay right here,” Ott says.  “Bigger’s better, heavier’s the best.” Ott is a potter and artist-in-residence at the Sedona Art Center, the hub of the arts community. “There’s probably close to 2,000 fulltime artists here, and these are not just hobbyists, these are actually people that depend on their income in their art,” says Ott. “So it’s really a very creative town.”

Creative, but troubled.  Public and private funding for the arts is being slashed and many artists are struggling. Peggy Sands teaches a water color class.  She moved to Sedona from Italy four years ago and did well for a while.  Then late last year the sales and commissions stopped. “I saw I better switch professions or I’m in trouble,” Sands says.  “At the turn of the year I did my numbers, I’m doing my taxes, I’m going, I’m not going to make my, I mean forget it.  I can’t count on anything anymore.”

A survey done three years ago found after shopping, art was the most popular interest among tourists.  With the decline in visitor numbers, art sales have tumbled—and almost a third of the town’s seventy galleries have gone out of business. “Art is your ultimate luxury and people who have money, and I’ve heard this again and again and again, people who do have the money who would in normal economic times spend it are sitting on it because they don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Sands.

For some it has already happened, and it’s crisis time. “I’m here for food,” says Lynn Dalton, who’s just made a trip to the local food bank. “I don’t have groceries at home.”

Dalton is a welder who works in home construction.  But that industry is also in trouble, not just because of mortgage woes and banking problems, but because home sales in Sedona rely in large part on tourists falling in love with the area and deciding to buy or build.   That’s not happening.  In a good year Sedona issues permits for 50 or 60 new homes.  So far this year, only five have been issued.  Dalton hasn’t had a paycheck since last spring. “Construction has slowed down so much that when the big contractors are not getting loans from the bank the money doesn’t trickle down to the little people like us,” Dalton says.

Overall, the trend in Sedona continues downward.  But even with no sign yet of recovery, many here remain hopeful. “We feel that no matter what people are still going to come up to Sedona,” says Shawn Wendell, owner of Pink Jeeps. “Just to get away from their issues, other problems in the world and get that natural outdoor feel, and just really get out there and say you know what? It might be a tough day, but it’s going to be okay in the future.”

View a slideshow of pictures from Sedona

-with reporting by John Paxson

Flagstaff residents have stayed closer to home for arts and entertainment, joined by Valley “staycationers.”

Walking under theatrical spotlights Monday night at a reception on the stage at the Coconino Center for the Arts, representatives from 30 local art, science and cultural non-profit organizations accepted $289,750 in grants. The grants were made through Flagstaff Cultural Partners (FCP), funded entirely through the city’s Art & Science Fund, which is fueled by Bed, Board and Beverage (BBB) revenues. It was an upbeat end to a busy summer season of concerts, festivals, workshops, lectures, art openings, films and theater productions, all hosted by local groups who hoped to bring locals and out-of-town visitors alike to the Flagstaff area for entertaining and educational times. John Tannous, executive director of FCP and Coconino Center for the Arts, said  BBB funds are a big reason why the recession has not been as big a deal for Flagstaff arts and cultural groups as in other cities.“Flagstaff invests more in arts and cultural organizations on a per capita basis than most other communities throughout the state,” he said. “All in all, it could be a lot worse than it is.”

PRETTY GOOD NUMBERS

Many organizers at the event told stories of surprising successes, given the troubled economy, including Jude McKenzie, president of the Northern Arizona Celtic Heritage Society, who accepted a $6,500 grant for NACHS. The society sponsors the popular Arizona Highland Celtic Festival each July in Foxglenn Park and has donated more than $50,000 in scholarship money for students of the Celtic arts. “We had about 8,200 people in total this year, and we were up about 15 percent in dollars,” said McKenzie, who said she is very optimistic, despite a tepid economic climate. “We had folks from all the surrounding states, as well as a few from eastern states. On top of that, we had better attendance for our piping school this year than ever!” Attendance is also up 20 percent this summer at the Arizona Historical Society/Pioneer Museum on Fort Valley Road, said director Les Rowe, who came to the grant awards to pick up a $12,000 check for the museum. “I have a theory we’ve benefited from the ‘staycationers’ in the region,” Rowe said. “They’re coming to Flagstaff and doing everything, all the standard local destinations. The other theory is that people are staying put more here in town. In a recession in troubled times, people want to get re-attached to their roots.” Rowe said many folks visiting the museum come armed with the Flagstaff Discovery Passport, which they have fun getting stamped at different local attractions.

DOWN, FLAT AND UP

Attendance numbers suffered at some venues late last year, and even into May and June this year. Speaking at a dedication in Buffalo Park on Aug. 17, Robert Breunig, director of the Museum of Northern Arizona, commented on sales in the museum’s shop and bookstore. “The daily drumbeat of downbeat news had an effect on sales,” he explained. “We saw a decline in shop sales earlier in the year, but now we’re seeing our sales numbers improve dramatically.” Attendance at MNA was essentially flat for the Hopi festival in early July vs. the previous year, but up 13 percent for the Navajo show in August, Breunig said. “People still saw the festivals as a value; if you spend a day at a heritage program, you’re going to get a lot of educational experiences and fun,” he added.

A database of attendance records at Lowell Observatory up on Mars Hills helps staff track daily, monthly and yearly trends, said Kevin Schindler, outreach manager at Lowell. Schindler noted that as the economy fell last year, Lowell attendance numbers kept increasing, but numbers were down early in 2009, only to climb rapidly in July and August. “We had our third-best month ever in July,” he said. Short-term attendance numbers aren’t necessarily an accurate barometer of the economy’s impact on Lowell’s visitation, since other factors are also important, he said. “When Phoenix hits triple digits, significantly more Phoenicians come to Flagstaff to escape the heat,” Schindler said. 

HELPING EACH OTHER

Tannous was one of the local leaders who spearheaded the creation in November 2008 of an informal club of non-profits. Fondly called a “pep rally” by its members, who all represent local nonprofit organizations, the gatherings are casual and monthly, with no set agenda. At the meetings, ideas are bounced around as attendees discuss ways to save and grow their organizations by working together to survive amidst sagging economic conditions. This networking fellowship is very much a Flagstaff sensibility. “Flagstaff is one of the most inclusive arts communities, giving everyone a voice to participate in the arts,” said Robert Booker, executive director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, who attended the granting event. “There seems to be a wonderful camaraderie among these art leaders, and in these economic times that is so important.” Laura Kelly, executive director of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, helped start the nonprofit pep rally. She has been full of creative ideas for FSO and other groups. Although there have been some cutbacks at the symphony, there have also been some additions, like the new summer chamber music series, with an hour of music in three late-Sunday afternoons at Lowell Observatory, Arizona Snowbowl and Heritage Square. “We averaged about 250 people at each show, which exceeded our expectations,” Kelly said. “It was our trial balloon, and with this enthusiastic response we will try to have this every summer and work toward expanding the series.” Kelly added that the summer series drew “a healthy-sized group from the Phoenix area,” judging by giveaways at each concert, with lots of slips filled out with Phoenix addresses.

Betsey Bruner can be reached at bbruner@azdailysun.com or 556-2255.

If you live in Flagstaff you’re probably accustomed to the occasional rental car going the wrong way down a one way street; or the fanny pack sporting, camera toting tourist asking for directions. But before you get too exasperated, consider this: those tourists provide a half billion dollar annual jolt to the economy. In the latest installment of our series Tourism in Tough Times, Arizona Public Radio’s Laurel Morales reports on Flagstaff’s evolution from a stopover on the way to the Grand Canyon, to a destination all its own.

People started flocking to Flagstaff, Arizona in the 1890s when the small timber town began to provide stagecoach rides to the Grand Canyon. The trip required patience. The 70-mile ride took most of the day. Eventually a train to the canyon and the invention of the automobile made the trip a lot easier.

Flagstaff historian Richard Mangum says the first car trip was attempted in 1902.

“They thought they could do it in five hours,” Mangum says.  “In fact it took them several days. They had breakdowns. They got lost. They almost froze to death. There was no place to buy gasoline along the way. But they did make it. Even though they had to come back on the train and have the horses pull the car.”

It wasn’t until the 1920s when automobile traffic surpassed train trips to the canyon. Then, Route 66 was paved and Flagstaff saw even more tourists. And the town saw another bump when Interstate 17 was completed in 1970s.  

“All of Northern Arizona cashed in on tourism as much as they could,” Mangum says.

And despite the current economic slowdown across the country, tourists are still visiting Flagstaff. While the Bed, Board and Beverage tax collections are down about 2% compared to last year, Flagstaff’s tourism slump is minimal compared to the rest of the state.

Part of the reason for that, says downtown Flagstaff businessman Jim Babbitt, is that the city’s historic downtown has become a major tourist destination in its own right. It’s now the number one attraction for Flagstaff visitors. Grand Canyon is number two.

Babbitt is taking a break in Heritage Square, on a bench made out of welded train parts. His family’s old department store used to stand right where he’s sitting. He says there was a time in the early 1980s when downtown was essentially a ghost town, with vacant store fronts, a dirt parking lot and crime.  

“We were at a pretty low point when part of the building was torn down and the rest was actually sold,” Babbitt says. “It was just killing me. Fortunately we were able to reacquire the property and take off its modern façade and restore the old red Moencopi sandstone. If you don’t know it already I’m in love with the building and with the downtown it’s been such a big part of my life.”

It took several years for Babbitt, other property owners and the city to restore historic downtown and make it the bustling attraction it is today.

“It turned out better than any of us had anticipated,” Babbitt says. “We were down for the art walk the first Friday of August and you could hardly walk on the sidewalk. There were so many people here.”

Instead of just lunch on the way to the Grand Canyon visitors now stay in Flagstaff an average of about two and a half nights.

But others, like Phoenix resident Chuck Burns and his family, are staying even longer. Burns, who’s pushing a stroller through Lowell Observatory’s activity center just before sunset, is staying four nights.

“I have to say, Flagstaff, you know five years ago it didn’t seem that interesting to us, but it has so many things to do now,” Burns says. “We really wish we were staying longer to do more things. It’s really got a lot to offer.”

Outside as the sky turns purple, Burns says he hopes to see a meteor shower.

Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau spokeswoman Jacki Lenners says a third of Flagstaff’s tourists are from Arizona. And most of them, like Burns, are from the valley.

Flagstaff has not been hit as hard by the economy as compared to other larger cities throughout Arizona, Lenners says.  “We’ve faired well and held our own. I think a lot of that has to do with our primary markets being Phoenix and Southern California. These are drive or short flight markets. People aren’t giving up closer to home shorter trips.”

But Flagstaff still has visitors who travel great distances.

J.R Murray, the general manager of Arizona Snowbowl, is scanning the guest book at Agassiz Lodge, high on the San Francisco Peaks.

“What do we have, Illinois, Georgia, Utah, Florida, South Africa,” says Murray. “And that’s just today. This is an informal survey but very much a cross section of the whole wide world.”

Outside, the Heckathorn family from Phoenix peels off their rain ponchos. They’ve just ridden the Snowbowl sky ride on a cloudy monsoon morning.

The Heckathorns say they come to Flagstaff in the summer to beat the desert heat, and in the winter to ski.   Many other visitors tout similar stories.

Murray says thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision the snow will soon be more consistent. The ski area has been given the go-ahead to use reclaimed wastewater to make artificial snow.

“Once the marketplace realizes we have predictable consistent snow year in and year out,” says Murray, “we will be able to commit to the marketplace. They will in be able to commit to planning their ski trips to Flagstaff, whereas now they cannot.”

Snowbowl plans to start building snowmaking equipment next spring and have it ready for the following winter. It’s projected to cost more than 10 million dollars.

Some downtown businesses complain snow doesn’t really help them. They say when there’s a storm everyone is up on the mountain, not spending money in town. During past dry winters retail sales have gone up.

But with snowmaking Murray hopes spending will even out. “The projection is almost 24 million dollars a year in visitor spending,” he says. “So that is a number the community can take to the bank.”

Just as restoring downtown reinvigorated tourism in Flagstaff in the 1990s, Murray hopes snowmaking will provide the next tourism jolt in years to come.

Flagstaff’s hospitality industry has capitalized on the Grand Canyon’s steady appeal, even during a recession.

A clipboard at the Flagstaff Visitors’ Center asks tourists to sign in, say where they’re from, and check a box- business or leisure? Many tick “leisure.” They’re here for the views, history, culture and fun abundant at the Grand Canyon, Sedona, or Flagstaff itself.

Some people come to the area for adventure sports or hikes through rugged terrain, but others enjoy colorful entertainment that moves at a slower pace. That can be done from the comfort of a van or through some light exertion while strolling downtown. One sightseeing tour company operator said that he’s on track toward his best August ever, after rebounding from a slow spring season. Another tour guide said that business is noticeably down, but he still enjoys being a part of people’s vacations. And right in the heart of Flagstaff, walking tours are still drawing groups for some Flagstaff 101.

TOUR VANS FULL

Dave Thayer, the owner and namesake of Canyon Dave Tours, said his vans have been out almost every day this summer. His fleet of three, 15-passenger vans go to the Grand Canyon as well as Sedona. “We’re doing real well right now,” Thayer said. “I can’t always tell why. I just know that we’re doing quite well.” Canyon Dave’s business hasn’t been without its ups and downs as a recession pinches people’s wallets. Thayer said this past March and May were his slowest in three years, but April and June were his biggest in the eight-plus years he’s been offering his educational nature and geology “eco-tours.” August, he said, is shaping up the same way. The springtime slump meant the Williams-based mom-and-pop, which employs five, had to cut a few hours for employees. But Thayer said he’s still considering expanding his enterprise to the Phoenix area, touring nearby attractions and departing for Canyon and Sedona trips straight from the Valley. “We’re surviving better than we thought we would,” said fellow guide and Thayer’s wife Dora.

MORE AMERICANS THIS YEAR

Dave Thayer said he’s seen more Americans on his trips — people who would travel overseas but are cutting back on vacation costs by staying in the United States. He said more Arizonans seem to be taking his tours as well. His clientele tends to include families who can’t handle much physical stress, including senior citizens and small children. Although he offers half-day, four-hour trips, he said his full-day, 8-to-10 hour trips are more popular. Thayer isn’t a rookie businessman, but he has a hard time pinpointing what does, or doesn’t, put tourists in his seats. He’s not sure why his business was weak one month and then gangbusters the next. “Sometimes it seems like magic when you get a lot of people or you don’t,” he said. One thing that certainly hasn’t hurt is the Canyon Dave “Recession Discount” that he applies to all tours. That’s two children free with two full-priced adults, or 20 percent off for adults traveling without kids. There’s also a senior discount.

CUSTOMIZED TRIPS

Optimistic but admittedly down in bookings is Lloyd Taylor, who owns and operates Seven Wonders Scenic Tours. The longtime Flagstaff resident works solo as often as he can while marketing a personalized, a la carte approach that he likes to call a “treat, not a treatment.” His customized trips allow visitors to mix and match destinations in half-day, full-day or multi-day trips in a 350-mile radius around Flagstaff, from Jerome to Lake Powell, Hopiland to Bryce and Zion canyons in southern Utah, even in-town places like Lowell Observatory or smaller, isolated spots like Tuzigoot Ruins and the Rock Art Ranch. Taylor said he likes to be as accommodating as possible for people who want to maximize their time and money. He drives new rental vehicles selected for individual trips – sedans for small, private parties, vans for bigger groups – while talking about flora and fauna, geology and human history, and culture. It’s something that he’s loved for decades, his business borne out of the tours he offered visitors in his own car when he and his brother Henry co-owned the Weatherford Hotel and hostel inside (Henry still owns the downtown landmark with wife Sam, but the hostel is no longer.)

Taylor estimated his bookings have gone down by a third to half, but he likes picking the most motivated people to share the sights with. “If I really pushed it I think I could go almost every day because of the people who are referred to me and the repeats that I have,” he said. Last Tuesday, Taylor was looking forward to a classic tour he had planned for the next day— a trek to the iconic Monument Valley.

DOWNTOWN STROLLERS

The Weatherford – Lloyd Taylor’s business before his tours – is one of many stops on a downtown walking tour offered regularly by the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau. On a warm Friday afternoon, about 10 people gathered at the Flagstaff Visitor Center for an ambient amble through a history-rich part of town with a cheery tour guide, who gently turned down tips when offered. The guests came from all over: Florida, southern Arizona, the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, Virginia, the East Coast.

Ron and Jean Maranhao are in Flagstaff by way of Boston. The couple had spent a night in Flagstaff in the dead of winter during a cross-country family trip, but that was in the early 1990s. When the opportunity came recently for another vacation, they reconsidered their first idea, Canada. They remembered Arizona. There were the red rocks of Sedona, which initially drew them. There was the happy coincidence that some friends live in Phoenix and Flagstaff, and the lure of the Grand Canyon’s majesty. “If we don’t go see the Grand Canyon now, when are we gonna see it?” asked Ron, who is in his 60s.

So the Maranhaos saw it all. Friday was their second-to-last day of a week-long visit to the region. Their local friends told them about the downtown tours, which are free and pack into an hour decades of tales about Flagstaff’s roots: Old West color, early industry, and the spirit of the town’s pioneers. After an easy walk among the old sandstone buildings, Ron Maranhao said he’d like to come back some day. “I like it. I like the people here,” he said. “I think they’re very friendly.”

Hillary Davis can be reached at hdavis@azdailysun.com or 556-2261.

Mohave Point, South Rim, Grand Canyon: Click for a slideshow

The Grand Canyon is Arizona’s biggest tourist attraction. It’s 277 miles long, and it attracts about 4 ½ million visitors each year. The Canyon has felt the tremors of the national economic recession. But its unique offerings—from mule rides down the Bright Angel Trail to roaring raft trips through the Colorado River’s whitewater—have kept most tourists coming. Lucrezia Cuen has the first story in our series “Tourism in Tough Times.”

Lott has been showing people the Canyon for four years. He says he has seen some drop in visitors.

“The whole park, the whole area, has been a little lower,” Lott says. “Visitation’s been a little lower, because of the economy I imagine.”

Last year almost four and a half million visitors explored the Grand Canyon. This year, attendance is down, but only marginally, by 1 ½ %.

John Streit runs Xanterra on the South Rim, the concessionaire that operates the lodges, restaurants, and some gift shops. He employs 1,200 workers. He hasn’t had to lay anyone off, but revenues in retail sales are down by about three percent.

“Nothing’s recession-proof but national parks have been fairly recession-resistant over the years,” Streit says. “People are still sleeping. People are still eating. But in the retail revenue, you know, you don’t have to buy five or six T-shirts.”

Tourists Still Coming

Along the rim of the canyon a group of Japanese tourists are posing for photos near the famed El Tovar Hotel. Nilloofel Dumasia of Mumbai, India, sits nearby, looking out over the rim.

“Oh it’s a beautiful place, very beautiful, and there are none to surpass it in the world, Dumasia says. “There’s no other place like this canyon in the world.”

International travelers like Dumasia typically make up more than a third of the Canyon’s visitors. But international travel to the U.S. is down this year, by about eight percent. That brings the attendance numbers down in all of the national parks, the Grand Canyon among them.

Still, the park remains one of the most popular tourist destinations for Americans. And the economy has hardly budged that.

Carrol Terbrock and her husband Joe of Forrestal, Missouri are visiting the canyon during a three week road trip.

“We’ve seen it on TV, you know,” Terbrock says. “But just to see it in real life, my goodness. Anyone from the Midwest really would be fascinated by this. They can’t visualize it. You know you see pictures of it and you fly over it going to Vegas or something but until you really get down here and see it, this is neat.”

The couple says the economy really hasn’t affected their travel plans this year. But Carol Terbrock says “I hope gas doesn’t go too high for us. We’ve decided we’re too old. We want to take off and travel. So we’re going.”

A line of mules with tourists clinging desperately to saddle horns is headed down-canyon from Bright Angel Point. Their guide is Kevin Varley, who everyone at the canyon calls “K-Bar.” He sports a brown Stetson, blue cowboy shirt with pearl snaps and a mustache as large as his voice.

“Today I had the day ride which is a 12 mile round trip ride down to Plateau Point and back,” Varley says. “We go down there, have lunch, then turn around and come back out on the same trail.”

The mule guide agrees that like the trail, some things are headed down, but not everything.

“Throughout the park I can see attendance is definitely down,” Varley says. “But we stay very busy here at the mule barn just for the fact that it’s such a unique ride.”

According to Varley, mule rides that require advance bookings are doing fine.

Running the Rapids

About ninety miles up-river, at Lee’s Ferry, the big blue rafts of another Colorado River expedition are loading up. More than 20,000 people float through the Grand Canyon each year. The numbers this year are somewhat down, though the river remains extraordinarily popular.

Milton Frank of Walnut Creek, California, is stowing his last bit of gear. He decided last year to make a second trip down the Canyon when he and a friend were gazing at another river—the Rio Grande outside Taos, New Mexico. He recalls they were considering just how short life actually is.

“This is a very special thing,” Frank says. “You can only do this once or twice in a lifetime. My friend Peter said I’d sure like to go down the Grand Canyon and I said, well, we’ve done that and we’d love to go again. And he said, well, let’s do it. He called about three days later and said it’s a three-year wait however somebody just canceled and we could get on if we accepted tomorrow. And we did. And here we are today.”

Frank quotes the famous San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen to help explain his decision to see the Canyon for a second time.

“We all hear that, you know, live today like it’s going to be the last day of your life,” Frank says. “And Herb Caen said, ‘Because someday, you’re gonna be right.’ So you have to look at it like that.”

Back on the South Rim, Ranger Ron Brown recounts the California Condor’s comeback to about three dozen tourists. He’s been a park ranger almost ten years, and says he knows why the recession rumbling along in the outside world has barely touched the Canyon.

“So many people come here and they tell you I waited my whole life to see this,” Brown says. “People who really can only afford one vacation they come here. This is the place, you know.”

Teddy Roosevelt knew that in 1903, when he articulated his vision of what the Grand Canyon would become for Americans. “Keep it for your children,” he said, “your children’s children, and for all who come after you, as the one great sight which every American…should see.”

-with reporting by John Paxson

View a Slideshow of Grand Canyon Attractions