The goal is to drive tax revenue through tourism
Oro Valley’s destination marketing effort is intended to generate new revenue for the Town, primarily through increased sales tax and bed tax collections. That matters now because, as we reported last week, the Town’s latest five-year financial forecast shows a tight alignment between projected revenues and expenses. Any new, sustainable revenue source will help. Destination marketing is a discretionary initiative aimed at generating that revenue.
Oro Valley’s destination marketing effort is intended to generate new revenue for the Town, primarily through increased sales tax and bed tax collections. That matters now because, as we reported last week, the Town’s latest five-year financial forecast shows a tight alignment between projected revenues and expenses. Any new, sustainable revenue source will help. Destination marketing is a discretionary initiative aimed at generating that revenue.
Two years in the making
The Town began this effort in April 2024 when the Town Council voted to discontinue working with Visit Tucson, saving nearly $500,000 annually and redirecting some of these funds to building its own destination marketing program. Much has been done since then to prepare for that, including hiring staff, launching initial tools, such as the Explore Oro Valley app to access the Explore OV page on the town's website, and commissioning visitor data analytics through Placer.ai. There have also been some early marketing and event promotion efforts.
The Town began this effort in April 2024 when the Town Council voted to discontinue working with Visit Tucson, saving nearly $500,000 annually and redirecting some of these funds to building its own destination marketing program. Much has been done since then to prepare for that, including hiring staff, launching initial tools, such as the Explore Oro Valley app to access the Explore OV page on the town's website, and commissioning visitor data analytics through Placer.ai. There have also been some early marketing and event promotion efforts.
Fiscal 2027, which starts July 1, will be the year in which the “getting ready” of the past two years is put into action. Town Economic Development Director Paul Melcher told the Budget and Finance Commission last week that “we’re transitioning from plan implementation, website rollout and development,” and that the 2027 budget “really represents… emphasis on marketing and branding and getting out the word on Oro Valley.” (Source: Town of Oro Valley Tourism Advisory Commission Meeting, March 15, 2026)
One piece of unfinished business: Ranking new initiatives
One step remains: Prioritizing the recommendations from the Town’s Leisure and Travel Destination Management Plan. In February, the Council established six key criteria for selecting plan for selecting plan recommendations. (Panel below left) Using that, staff developed a scoring system that ranked te
potential initiatives, including revitalizing parks for sports tourism, developing a regional events and festival strategy, and activating Steam Pump Ranch. The Tourism Advisory Commission approved the list last week, but the Council did not.
After seeing the list, Council Member Murphy asked, “What is this specific plan? How much is it going to cost? What’s the ROI?” Melcher did not provide those details, explaining that the plan is intended to be high level and that specific costs, scope, and expected returns would be developed later as individual projects are brought forward through the budget and implementation process. A majority of the Council disagreed. They voted 4–3 to send the rankings back to staff, directing them to return with more detailed, project-level information on each item, including scope of work, actual cost to the Town, timing, and expected impact on tourism.
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