Community News

Grand Canyon Chamber Monthly Newsletter Message From The General Manager Laura Chastain

August 13, 2019

 NPS reports are in for June. June showed a  decrease over last year of 4.4%.  Year to date averages -6.06%. Click here for the link to the current NPS reports.

 

As you know it's all about the numbers and trends.  While looking at the data can provide insight speaking with folks analyzing the data can provide additional insights.  Arizona Lodging & Tourism will be providing their Northern Arizona forecast on August 23rd in Prescott. 

 

We will be hosting the Arizona Office of Tourism on September 13th from 11:30 am -12:30 at Big E Steakhouse with optional lunch following. Please click here to register. Additionally,  Arizona Office of Tourism has updated their site and I encourage you to review the data as well. Also on the AOT site under Regional Data is the results of a Flagstaff Tourism Study from 2017-2018.  There is a lot of information here that could help you with targeting your social media campaigns. 

 

Currently we are running a Facebook Ad within Arizona promoting "Summers not over" and "rooms are available in Tusayan". So far 480 clicks - here's to increasing your bookings for August.  We are here to help support your business!

 

Town of Tusayan Funding: A brief background: The State of Arizona Constitution imposes a formula-based budget spending limit on Arizona cities and towns, including the Town of Tusayan. This formula-based spending limit does not take into consideration the services and programs provided to citizens by each city or town, such as public safety, water and roadway infrastructure. As an alternative to this formula-based limit, the State Constitution allows voters of a municipality to approve a Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, otherwise known as the “Home Rule” Option. The Local Alternative Expenditure Limitation, or “Home Rule” Option allows a city or town to adopt its own budget limits locally-based on local needs, service levels and available resources.

 

The Town of Tusayan failed to meet the requirements for the Home Rule election and is now subject to the State of Arizona's budget constraints.  This has led to several funding cuts, especially for Tourism support.  For Fiscal year 2019 - 2020 the Chamber will not receive Marketing funding or Ambassador program funding from the Town.  Additionally, the funds have been cut to extend the shuttle services into Tusayan for October and November and the Tusayan Trails project has been put on hold.

 

The Chamber is still committed to fulfilling our mission and supporting your businesses.  We once again applied for the AOT Rural Opportunity Grant with the Office of Tourism - but at a much lower commitment. Upon approval of our grant choices we will run 3-fall campaigns with AAA to promote fall and winter visitation.  Additionally, we are activity seeking ways to partner with other agencies to seek additional funds / resources to help meet our mission.  I am also seeking out publications/markets that would allow for more collaborative ads so will keep you posted as opportunities arise.  If you have any questions please let me know.

 

Grand Canyon Trail Half Marathon, 5K and Family 1-mile We are excited to bring this event in-house and to work on extending our season one more weekend.  The event is scheduled for November 2nd and so far has 166 registrations.  Our goal/cap is 500. 

 

Over the next several weeks more information will be available on volunteer opportunities, sponsorship opportunities, and general needs/support.

 

A Special Thank you to all of our 2019 Sponsors:

We couldn't do all of our events (July 4th, Half-Marathon, Employment FAM Tours, Become the Experts etc) without you!


Platnum Sponsor: Town of Tusayan for July 4th

Gold Sponsors: Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Red Feather Lodge, Texaco Express Mini-Mart

Silver Sponsors: The Grand Hotel, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter

Bronze Sponsors: Plaza Bonita Restaurant, Big E Steakhouse, 
RP's Stage Stop, Grand Canyon Plaza Hotel, Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn

Small Business Sponsors: Arizona River Runners, Camper Village, Maverick, Buck Wild Hummer Tours

 

ResignationClayann Cook has decided to step down from our Chamber Board.  We want to say thank you to her for all of her years of service to this Board and Community.  We will be choosing a replacement board member at the September 12th meeting to serve the remaining term. Annual elections will take place in November.

 

Oct 1, 2019 CUA fee increase will go into effect. May 29th NPS updated the site to clarify questions you may have. Here is a link that outlines the increases.  Here is a link that reviews their presentation.  This will result in significant fee adjustments for your tour

  • June / July Recap

    Employment Familiarization Tour - Another small but mighty group!  We had 5 participants and 3 local businesses attend. 2 of the 4 above had never been on the tour and were extremely excited to bring back all the information to their organizations (DES and Goodwill) and Barry on the left is looking to move to GC and personally gain employment!  Eleanora has been on tours and has helped place applicants in the Grand Canyon.  She continues to work to support all of you out of the Flagstaff DES office. If you need assistance connecting with anyone that has attended one of our events please let me know.

     

    Presentation by Lisa Graham, SHRM-CP Lisa provided us with an excellent opportunity to learn more about hiring Veteran's.  This program is offered free through SHRM (Society for Human Resources Management).  Even if you missed the presentation you can still take advantage of this great resource...

    The SHRM Foundation's Veterans at Work Certificate, developed for HR professionals, hiring managers, and front-line supervisors, is a multi-faceted program from the SHRM Foundation and brought to you with generous support from Comcast NBCUniversal. Through this certificate program you will:

    • Learn the value that skilled veterans bring to the civilian workplace
    • Demonstrate your commitment to attract, hire and retain these talented professionals
    • Earn 10 professional development credits toward your SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP recertification

     

    Grand Canyon Chamber Grand Re-opening Mixer

    Red Feather Lodge with food by Plaza Bonita

    Thank you all for attending the June Mixer.  It was exciting to see all the beautiful brick work, custom benches and such a welcoming entrance for our Grand Canyon Visitors.  Besides the Grand Entrance - all the rooms have been updated, a new workout room was added and a larger conference room. 

     

     

    Grand Canyon Become the Expert Thank you to those that attended - again it was a small but mighty group.  Thank you Blake from Coconino County Emergency Services for attending and sharing information on the emergency sign-up. Please encourage your staff to sign-up for this free service that will provide emergency information and warnings out via text to your phones. If you need flyers for your work place please contact Blake Scott via email or call 928-679-7338

     

     

    July 4th - Grand Canyon Centennial Parade and Celebration

    Wow what a great day! Congratulations West Wind Airlines for winning this years Parade Float entry. A special thank you to all of our sponsors: Town of Tusayan, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Red Feather Lodge, Texaco, The Grand Hotel, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter, Plaza Bonita Restaurant, Big E Steakhouse, RP's Stagestop, Grand Canyon Plaza Hotel, Best Western Grand Canyon Squire Inn, Arizona River Runners, Camper Village, Maverick and Buck Wild Hummer Tours.  The food was delicious - thank you Plaza Bonita, Pink Jeep, IMAX, and Big E Steakhouse for all of your time and energy.  Exit 64 and Michael Grimm rocked the house!  Mad Science of Phoenix entertained the kids.  Bright Angel Bicycles helped the kids decorate their bikes and Grand Canyon Recreation hosted multiple games. Not only did we raise more money this year for the Chamber and Visitor Center but we were also able to raise $630 for Grand Canyon Conservancy and the event also helped Tusayan Fire Department raise $2500 and the PTO raise funds. Thank you to all that attended and supported this event.

     

    AOT - FAM's who's come? 

    June 9th - Larry Heath founding editor The AU Review - Thank you Grand Canyon Railway for hosting

    June 17th - Karen Jiang Lonely Planet Traveler China

    Aug 3rd - Helmut Widmann and Family - Gute Reise magazine Austria- Thank you Red Feather for hosting

     

     

    August & September

    Aug 20th - Coconino County Food Manager Class. It is recommended that each participant download and review the course manual before class.  

    Please register on-line Fee is $55 per person for Manager Training or $30 for re-certification. Day of the class please have checks made out to Coconino County Health Dept.  

     

    Sept 12th - 10 am - 12 pm Board Meeting - Red Feather Conference room

     

    Sept 12th - 5:30 - 7:00 pm Pink Jeep & IMAX mixer

     

    Sept 13th - AOT Regional Number Reporting

     

    Sept 28th - Bike Your Park Event - more information soon!

     

    AOT - FAM's who's coming? Current Requests from AOT If you want to host please let me know.

     

    Aug 18-19 - Michael Pohl  Germany - Thank you Red Feather for hosting

     

     

    National Park Service News

    National Park Service Requests Public Input on a Telecommunications Plan at Grand Canyon National Park

    Contact: Lilly Daniels, 928-638-7958

    Grand Canyon, AZ – The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking public comment on a proposal to enhance cellular and Internet services and data network capacity within developed areas of Grand Canyon National Park. 

    These services are currently insufficient to meet the needs of visitors, the NPS, and park partners. Action is needed at this time to address these deficiencies and develop guidance for types and locations of telecommunications infrastructure within the park that minimizes impacts to natural and cultural resources and visitor experiences.

    The current proposed action includes accommodating up to five additional telecommunications towers within developed areas on the North and South Rims, the installation of small-cell nodes in high visitor use areas, and the installation of fiber optic communications cable along existing corridors. The proposed action also includes the removal or relocation of existing telecommunications infrastructure. 

    Public comments on the proposed action will be accepted July 22 until midnight, Aug. 20, 2019(date extended). Additional information is available on the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/GCTelecommunications

    During this time, any individual or group can submit scoping comments electronically through the PEPC project website, which is the preferred method for submitting comments, in person at public scoping open house events, or by mail.