Western states should lure foreign tourists, says Wash. governor

"The White House noted that those visits contributed nearly $50 billion in economic activity and 400,000 jobs, with eco-tourism and outdoor recreation having "an outsize impact on rural economies," particularly in North Carolina, California, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming."

Arizona tourism industry packs an economic punch of $17.7 billion yearly and 2012 looks to be the best year since 2008. Let hope and promote!

By ROB HOTAKAINEN

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- When she leaves the executive mansion as Washington state's 22nd governor next January, Democrat Chris Gregoire wants to unwind by taking a month to visit some national parks with her husband, Mike.

She's hoping that more foreign tourists will do the same. While global tourism rose by 40 percent in the past decade, Gregoire said that the number of overseas travelers who came to the United States increased by only 1 percent from 2000 to 2010...

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/24/3449562/western-states-should-lure-foreign.html#storylink=cpy

According to the White House, both the travel industry and Bureau of Economic Analysis say that international travel is particularly important as overseas or "long-haul" travelers spend on average $4,000 on each visit.

Gregoire says cash-strapped states need to lure more such visitors. She says that Western states, with an abundance of spectacular scenery and parkland, are best suited to pull them in...

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/24/3449562/western-states-should-lure-foreign.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/24/3449562/western-states-should-lure-foreign.html#storylink=cpy

 http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/24/3449562/western-states-should-lure-foreign.html

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/24/3449562/western-states-should-lure-foreign.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/24/3449562/western-states-should-lure-foreign.html#storylink=cpy

Widescreen wonders: Arizona’s 100 years of statehood

The Grand Canyon State celebrates its centenary this week, but the cinematic drama of its iconic landscapes has a timeless appeal for travelers.

Arizona has more National Parks & Monuments then any other state in the union. In a few days we will be celebrating our 100 centennial. Hopefully, our recent negative international image will be put behind us and like a Phoenix - we will rise again. 

Leonardo

www.AcrossArizonaTours.com

 

Chris Leadbeater

Friday, 10 February 2012

The Arizona Capitol knows its place in the world. Poised 17 blocks west of downtown Phoenix, it might be an extra from a cowboy film. Just outside its main entrance, a huge cactus – 15ft high, torso a muscular green – lifts arms in salute. And the building seems to respond, nodding back via a dome that, unlike those of its colleagues in New England, with their sleek marble masonry, is forged of copper – a metal that has long been cut from the ground of this rugged region. The only way to make the structure look any more in tune with the American West would be to drop a giant stetson on to its gleaming head.

And yet, if the Capitol could have made a sound on 14 February 1912, it would not have been a horseback holler. It would have been the soft click of a piece fitting into a jigsaw. Because it was on that day that Arizona settled into the groove as an official part of the USA – the 48th state, and the last nugget of the contiguous America to arrive at the party...

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/widescreen-wonders-arizonas-100-years-of-statehood-6699989.html?printService=print

Grand Canyon will soon ban the sale of bottled water.

The National Park Service has approved a plan that will eliminate the sale of bottled water within 30 days, after nearly $290,000 was spent to install 10 water stations inside the park. Visitors can use the stations to refill their own water bottles, which they can tote in from the outside.

Take Only Pictures, Leave Only Footprints, however the life span of a plastic bottle is from 300 to 500 hundred years thus when a plastic bottle accidentally falls into the Grand Canyon, well it will be there for a long, long time.

Leonardo

www.AcrossArioznaTours.com

(Reuters) - Officials at the Grand Canyon will soon ban the sale of bottled water in response to concerns that empty plastic bottles scattered around the park were spoiling views of the natural wonder.

The National Park Service has approved a plan that will eliminate the sale of bottled water within 30 days, after nearly $290,000 was spent to install 10 water stations inside the park. Visitors can use the stations to refill their own water bottles, which they can tote in from the outside.
Park concessionaires, who can still sell other bottled beverages, chipped in with another three water stations.

"Our parks should set the standard for resource protection and sustainability," John Wessels, the park service's intermountain region director, said in a statement this week.
Wessels added he expects the new policy to have minimal impact on visitors who flock to the crimson-hued canyon in northern Arizona.
Some 4.5 million tourists visit the Grand Canyon each year, and officials worry about litter found on the rim and inner canyon spoiling the park and marring its views. They estimate the disposable bottles account for 20 percent of the park's waste and 30 percent of its recyclables...

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/us-usa-grandcanyon-bottles-idUSTRE8171Q020120208

Western attitudes shows residents see public lands as key to their state's economies.

A recent survey of Western attitudes shows residents of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana and Wyoming see public lands as key to their state's economies...

As younger people come of age, a whole new generation of environmental voters will have a strong impact on our parks. 

www.AcrossArizonaTours.com

Survey of Western Attitudes Shows Strong Support for National Parks, Clean Environment:

A survey of Westerners shows overwhelming support for conservation of the landscape, with strong pluralities agreeing that "national parks, forests, monuments and wildlife areas, are an essential part" of their state economies...

 “Western voters consistently believe that conservation helps create and protect jobs for their states,” Mr. Metz said. “In fact, by a 17-point margin, voters are more likely to say that environmental regulations have a positive impact on jobs in their state rather than a negative one.”

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/01/survey-western-attitudes-shows-strong-support-national-parks-clean-environment9390