Two Major Resorts rejoin Visit Tucson | News

Oro Valley’s two major resorts have rejoined Visit Tucson, paying their own way for representation by the region’s destination marketing organization.

El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort, and the Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort and Spa lost visibility and leads in April, when the town of Oro Valley ended its $410,000 annual operating agreement with Visit Tucson.

Through the spring and into the fall, group and convention business leads for the two resorts essentially vanished.

“My business was suffering from not being part of Visit Tucson,” said John Ault, Westward Look general manager. “We pretty much went dark as far as leads from the first week of April until October. We lost business leads that can translate into revenue.” 

Shelby Francom, general manager at El Conquistador Tucson, shared a similar experience.

“We have yet to receive one unique and viable group lead” from Oro Valley’s newly formed destination marketing organization (DMO), Francom said.

But, since rejoining Visit Tucson on its own, El Conquistador Tucson has received more than 450 qualified leads.

“It made a ton of sense for us to go back to Visit Tucson,” The Westward Look’s Ault said. “We’ve paid for it, dearly, close to $100,000 a year. I had to. I wasn’t getting any business. We would have been affected severely if I had not gone back to Visit Tucson.”

Since rejoining Visit Tucson, the Westward Look has “already made close to half a million in lead generation revenue,” Ault said. “I have a 4:1 ROI already.”

Francom and Ault both appreciate the town’s focus on improving and increasing the viability of the leisure travel market in the community. But El Conquistador, for one, “is and always will be reliant on group/ convention business,” Francom said. That’s why it is working with Visit Tucson.

“By entering into the agreement, we gain access to the group / convention clients that lead to large convention bookings,” Francom said. Given the town’s “current production of leads and focus on leisure travel, we must partner with a DMO that is aligned with our goals and objectives,” he added.

Felipe Garcia, president and CEO of Visit Tucson, said the organization is “glad” to enter agreements with the two resorts to offer sales representation.

“We entered into these agreements thinking of our clients, the many meeting planners, association executives, etc., that seek a responsive and single entity to work with them to secure meeting locations in Tucson,” Garcia said.

Francom would not share how much money El Conquistador Tucson is paying Visit Tucson. Garcia said Visit Tucson’s agreements with specific resorts are confidential.

“Nevertheless, I can share with you that we can enter into these agreements thanks to the support we receive from jurisdictions such as Pima County and the city of Tucson,” Garcia said. “A model with just funding from hotels paying for representation is not viable in Tucson or any other market in the U.S.”

“Our stance is still that Visit Tucson is critical to our operation, as it sustains a presence amongst the group / convention clientele,” Francom said. “They have shown proven results in marketing Tucson and securing group business for the Tucson Metro Area over many years, and continue to provide us with the leads necessary to generate the revenues needed to operate the resort.”

Paul Melcher, Oro Valley’s community and economic development director, believes the resorts are “very supportive” of Oro Valley’s DMO efforts despite their return to Visit Tucson. “I still think it’s collaborative.”

Oro Valley is working to “develop strategies to help support the resorts,” Melcher said. The town is having early successes helping the resorts identify the business they’ve “lost to our local competitors. Why were we losing that business to other resorts?”

Town officials meet with the resorts at least monthly, “to address more personal concerns,” and to learn how Oro Valley can help with revenue and room-night goals, Melcher said.

Ault is “still not very happy at all with the decision done by the town council” to end its financial support for Visit Tucson.

But he believes Melcher and Crystal Franke, the town’s new destination marketing manager, “have their heads in the right place. They’re doing the right things, and they’ll make their way to create a good DMO here in Oro Valley,” Ault said. “There are great things to do up here that people don’t know about until it’s actually marketed.”

Still, Ault believes, “we’re just not ready for that yet. The cart’s still before the horse, it’s still not built.”