Yuma’s Historic Downtown named best in Arizona
Trivago: City an ‘emerging’ travel destination
Word is getting out! Yuma is a great place to visit.
That’s according to two separate travel-related organizations that singled out the city as a destination.
First, the televised travel show “Official Best of Arizona 2017” featured Historic Downtown Yuma during a half-hour show on Saturday. It named Downtown Yuma as Official Best Historic Main Street Community in Arizona for 2017.
“This is well-deserved recognition for the businesses of Downtown Yuma, and it’s an acknowledgement all Yumans can be proud of,” Linda Morgan, executive director of the Yuma Visitors Bureau, said in a press release. “There are many great communities like ours throughout Arizona, many which could have just as easily been recognized. For Yuma to get the nod is an honor.”
On March 2, the Visitors Bureau sponsored a visit by an “Official Best Of” videographer who shot footage of the Main Street scene, depicting its “eclectic, traveler-friendly atmosphere.”
“We’re really excited about it,” Dustin Mylius, the bureau’s marketing manager, told the Yuma Sun. “The recognition is very much due to the businesses that have had a hand in making Yuma more than a place to get gas and snacks.”
Mylius noted that the show focuses on attractions already well known by many Yumans but which might be “lesser known gems” for visitors and even some residents.
Some of the attractions spotlighted in the segment include Lutes Casino, which has been a community staple for 75 years in business; Yuma Art Center, which Mylius describes as a “pretty important piece in Yuma’s downtown scene”; the Historic Yuma Theatre, which dates to 1912; and Prison Hill Brewing Company.
The segment also made special mention of some of the specialty shops on Main Street as well as the “special goodies” found on the side streets. The Colorado River and the people of this “big little city” also received special nods.
The “Official Best Of” team puts lists together every year showcasing the best places in every state. The Visitors Bureau played a significant role in making the Yuma segment happen.
It began with the “Official Best Of” production team requesting nominations on its website. Researchers then “scoured” print and online travel resources and contacted other experts in the field to determine which nominees or researched attractions would be named as a “best of” in the state.
The team reached out to the Visitors Bureau, which shared information highlighting some of the most interesting places downtown as well as how Yuma came to be the original crossing point of the Colorado River.
They had already done some research on the Yuma Historic Main Street, Mylius noted.
The production team then informed the Visitors Bureau of the city’s title and made arrangements to film the downtown area. The bureau put the team in contact with business owners in the district.
The final product aired on KOLD Tucson and KPHO Phoenix. Those who missed the Saturday broadcast may find the Yuma segment at OfficialBestOf.com and on the Yuma Visitors Bureau’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
As for the second honor, Trivago posted an article on May 15 naming Yuma one of the Top 10 “emerging travel destinations” in the United States. The online travel search engine ranked Yuma in eighth place and noted a 22 percent increase in searches for the city.
“It’s not some obscure list. It’s actually based on people doing searches,” Mylius noted.
Of course, none of this surprises the Visitors Bureau, which doesn’t shy from recognizing that for most travelers, Yuma is “often not an ultimate destination,” but more often a stop on the way somewhere else, like San Diego or Phoenix. But if travelers do stop for a few hours, they’ll find “a great deal to do, adventures and authentic experiences and uniqueness,” Mylius said.
Trivago posted the article to its travel inspiration page “room5” (http:// room5.trivago.com/ emerging-travel-destinations-2017/).
Morgan called it “exciting news” and “an indication that local businesses and our various attractions are getting people’s attention. It is also an indicator that the Visitors Bureau is having great success with its marketing strategies.”
While the Trivago findings were unexpected, the bureau has been reporting a spike in traffic to VisitYuma.com for more a year.
“Trivago’s ranking of Yuma is highly assuring and goes a long way to validate the data we’ve been presenting locally,” Mylius said in a press release.
In 2016, VisitYuma.com experienced an increase of 64 percent in user sessions and an increase of 57 percent in unique users generating more than half a million page views, compared to 2015. So far in 2017, site traffic is up 7 percent compared to the same four-anda-half-month period in 2016.
The bureau pointed out that Trivago and VisitYuma.com are not the only sources reporting the uptick in interest in Yuma as a travel destination. Statewide lodging performance figure, released by Smith Travel Research and the Arizona Office of Tourism earlier this month, show Yuma County first-quarter occupancy rates up more than 10 percent and revenue per available room up nearly 18 percent over first quarter 2016.
Even better, Gov. Doug Ducey’s office released information in January indicating that all of Arizona — including metropolitan and rural areas — had “outperformed the national average in every major year-over-year (lodging) performance indicator in 2016.”
“The impact this is having on the Yuma economy is measurable,” the Visitors Bureau noted.
In the first quarter of 2017, Yuma’s special sales tax collection totaled $1.4 million — up 1.95 percent from the first quarter of 2016, according to data provided by the City of Yuma.
“In case there was doubt for the real, positive impacts tourism is having on our community, I hope the data dispels any disbelief,” Morgan said. “At the Visitors Bureau, we will continue to show tourism’s value and, with the support of city leadership, we will strive to ensure the economic vitality of our community for years to come.”