By Melissa Rosequist | Scottsdale Independent
Tourism is slowly inching back to Paradise Valley and Scottsdale, officials say, but that doesn’t end the resorts’ desperate needs for financial remedies today.
COVID-19’s impact on tourism — such as when millions of people stayed home instead of going on their summer vacation — has so dramatically impacted Paradise Valley’s resorts that desperate pleas for financial resolutions are not uncommon, Paradise Valley Councilman Paul Dembow says.
However, Rachel Sacco, Experience Scottsdale president and CEO, says data from the new fiscal year’s first quarter shows travel is slowly returning to the Valley.
Last month, Ms. Sacco gave a presentation to Paradise Valley Town Council on the reality of the town’s cash cow: bed tax dollars.
The resort occupancy for Scottsdale is at 38.1% from January to August, with an average daily rate of $259.30. The revenue per available room is $98.70.
In Scottsdale, the occupancy rate is slightly higher at 43.3%, with an average room rate of $193.31. The revenue per available room in Scottsdale is $83.64.
Ms. Sacco says when the pandemic began last spring, Experience Scottsdale was one of the first destination marketing organizations to produce a recovery plan.
“Frankly where we are right now is pretty predictable, it’s where we thought we would be. Although we do see our occupancy rates for the entire market, including Paradise Valley, continuing,” Ms. Sacco said of the first quarter for fiscal year 2020-21, which began July 1.
According to Experience Scottsdale’s chosen research company, Smith Travel Report, the Scottsdale and Paradise Valley area will experience 39.9% occupancy for the remainder of 2020, with an increase to 54.1% in 2021.
Year to date through August, total revenue at Paradise Valley resorts was $48.8 million, down 43% from the year prior, according to STR.
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