By Rachel Sacco

Experience Scottsdale

Spring is in bloom in Scottsdale, and after another winter of uncertainty, visitors are ready to enjoy Scottsdale’s beautiful spring weather and all the opportunities that come with it, from teeing off on the golf course to hitting the hiking trails. 

Although winter surges delayed some travelers’ plans, research company Longwoods International reports more than 9 in 10 Americans have travel plans over the next six months. People are busy scoping out destinations for their next trips, and Experience Scottsdale is working hard to ensure Scottsdale tops their list with a new commercial and tried-and-true strategies. 

As they’ve been making those plans, people in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City and Seattle have been inspired by Experience Scottsdale’s TV commercials. One commercial, which we debuted last year, follows a couple throughout the years, showcasing a lifetime of memories built while visiting Scottsdale. It pulls at the heartstrings and speaks to travel’s emotional core.

Our newest commercial, which is airing simultaneously, takes on a more jubilant tone, celebrating the excitement awaiting people in Scottsdale. Travelers today seek inclusive destinations, and with a cast that features people of all races, ages, sizes and sexual orientations, our commercial allows us to better spotlight Scottsdale as a community that welcomes and embraces everyone. 

While these commercials air, potential visitors are seeing and hearing Experience Scottsdale’s promotions across search engines, on social media, on the radio and in their inboxes. Plus, they’re coming across magazine articles, blog posts and social media stories about Scottsdale driven by public relations efforts. They’re learning about the city from travel advisers and tour operators trained by our team to sell Scottsdale vacations. Or they’re experiencing our hotels, resorts and venues during conferences Experience Scottsdale helped secure.  

As people became more open to travel inspiration, we ramped up our tried-and-true strategies that position Scottsdale as a year-round, luxury travel destination for meetings, events and leisure travel. 

We resumed many of our traditional programs that were paused at the onset of the pandemic, with Experience Scottsdale’s teams hitting the road to give Scottsdale a presence in key markets and at industry events. 

Our teams met with meeting planners, travel advisers, tour operators and journalists across North America. Once international travel restrictions lifted, we headed overseas to prepare travel professionals to book Scottsdale vacations for their clients. We also hosted more press trips for qualified travel writers and influencers, leading to positive, meaningful coverage in publications like Travel + Leisure, Worth, AFAR and Elite Traveler.

Through all these efforts and others, Experience Scottsdale is keeping the city top of mind with leisure visitors and equipping media, meeting planners and travel professionals with the tools they need to amplify Scottsdale’s story around the world. With so many promoting all that Scottsdale has to offer, we look forward to welcoming more visitors back to our community this spring and beyond. ν

Rachel Sacco is the president and CEO of Experience Scottsdale, which establishes Scottsdale as a year-round, luxury travel destination.