BISBEE, Ariz. (KGUN) — Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge says tourism in the city is down 3 to 4%, a decline he attributes in part to fewer Canadian visitors, and local business owners are feeling the impact.
Budge said the city is now changing how it markets itself by seeking a destination marketing organization, or DMO, to take over promotional efforts.
"Bisbee is so unique; we're not the easiest thing to market. And what I'm hoping for is that with this DMO that knows who we are and what we are, that we can show the people why you want to come here," Budge said.
The city funds its marketing through a bed tax collected from hotels and short-term rentals like Airbnbs. Budge acknowledged that hiring a professional DMO will come at a higher cost, but said the bed tax revenue can support it.
"You have to pay more because you're going to be hiring more professionals and so on, but I think that we can balance what comes in on our bed tax in order to make all this work," Budge said.
The city is currently collecting requests for offers until March 26. No timetable has been set for when an organization will be selected after applications are received.
Bisbee Forward, a nonprofit that supports local businesses, is among those eligible to apply. The organization has been helping the city with marketing efforts for the past year and has 70 members.
Steve Ball, president of Bisbee Forward, said businesses across the board have been feeling the slowdown.
"We're seeing reductions in sales, I think, pretty consistently across the board, among the business owners that we support," Ball said.
Ball said the nonprofit's members fund the marketing efforts themselves and want to make sure the money is used effectively.
"Our members really collect the money to pay for this marketing, and then they just want to make sure that it gets used effectively to get people to spend the night in Bisbee, which is the purpose of the fund," Ball said.
Whether or not Bisbee Forward is selected as the DMO, Ball said the organization will continue advocating for local businesses — and that getting the process right matters more than moving quickly.
"If we need to go slower at this point, so be it. Let's get it right. It's probably more important that we get it right than we rush to do a bad job. Yet again, we want to make sure that we do a good job," Ball said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
