Last summer, the Sedona Chamber of Commerce made the decision to cut all advertising in Phoenix in an attempt to reduce the number of day-trippers.

Depending on who you talk to, it either had little to no impact or a major one in terms of sales dollars.

This year, however, the chamber has decided that advertising in Phoenix is necessary — but its targeting a certain market, specifically those who will come to stay at least two nights.

“There is a notion that eliminating summer marketing in Phoenix will reduce traffic congestion,” Chamber President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff said. “But a reduction is just as likely to have no impact on traffic volume, increase the percentage of day-trip and drive-through traffic and limit visitor spending — the worst of both worlds.”

“We don’t operate in a vacuum,” Wesselhoff said. “The Grand Canyon is one of the most heavily-marketed destinations in the world and Oak Creek Canyon is hugely popular. We are located between Phoenix, a rich market for Grand Canyon visitors, and these two destinations.

“In the [Phoenix] Valley, Grand Canyon promotions encourage driving through Sedona for a quickie sight-see, a kind of bonus while heading for the Grand Canyon. It’s estimated that 50% of our out-of-town summer traffic doesn’t stop but they want to take the scenic route.”

Wesselhoff said unless they present Sedona as an overnight experience, it is likely even fewer people will stop and the pass-through traffic percentage will rise. The result is no reduction in drive-through traffic and continued limited, or even less, local spending by drive-through visitors.

The same holds for day trippers, she said. Phoenix area residents come to cool off, enjoy the scenery and be home for dinner, she said. Unless they market an over­night experience to targeted visitors, day-trippers will be up and back, use the roads, and contribute very little to the economy.

“If we don’t promote Sedona as an overnight stay to drive-through and day-trippers, who will?” she asked.

Wesselhoff talked advertising for the Phoenix area.

• How much money is set to be spent in the Phoenix area this summer on advertising and in what form?

Our proposed budget for advertising outside Sedona in Fiscal Year 2019-20 is just $485,000, a reduction of $10,000 compared to FY 2018-19.

Approximately $150,000 will target Phoenix and Los Angeles this summer. The L.A. market is significantly more expensive than Phoenix. We are conducting a thorough media market analysis before determining final budget proportions.

We aim to attract fewer people, who will stay longer and spend more, helping reduce traffic while keeping the economy strong and bolstering our brand as a sustainable, multi-night experience.

We will target Phoenix Valley households with incomes higher than $150,000 who are more likely to visit Sedona as a multi-night vacation, who honor our sustainability values and have the capability to spend on our wide range of experiences.

• Why was the decision made to advertise there again after not doing so last year?

If we do not advertise in Phoenix in the summer, we fail to capture the economic benefit of drive-through and day-trip visitors.

We heard from dozens of businesses in every sector that sales were down last summer despite a good economy. They attributed it to lack of Phoenix marketing and they strongly advocate for resumption this year. We agree and intend to be back in business in the Valley this summer.

With construction looming, businesses in Uptown are very clear they want the chamber active in the Phoenix market, and we will be.

• Do you regret the decision last year?

It was not easy to decide to opt out of Phoenix last year, and we talked to many of our stakeholders first, making the best decision we could. We learned from last year’s experience.

• As noted in the April 25 Sedona City Council meeting, sales tax was up last summer but many merchants say otherwise. How do you explain this?

Each of our member businesses measures success on their own terms, not by how much money the city collects. To reiterate: The reality for the Chamber is that, despite a good economy, we heard from dozens of busi­nesses in every sector that sales were down last summer, which they attribute it to our absence from the Phoenix market — our top feeder city. We intend to be back in business in the Valley this summer.

I also want to note that an increase in overall city sales tax collections does not mean individual businesses — lots of them — were not negatively affected by a reduc­tion in marketing. Clearly, many were.

• Do you feel construction work in Uptown and Oak Creek Canyon will impact tourism this summer?

As Yogi Berra said, “It’s hard to make predictions, especially about the future.”

As I mentioned to the council, construction does not change our marketing message: Sedona is a cool, starry, relaxing, exciting overnight destination.

From a day-to-day point of view, we are strongly advocating for our Uptown businesses in the community — asking residents to make a point of supporting our merchants during what could be a challenging time.

We have prepared a Construction Support Guide at sedonachamber.com/sim.

We are hosting “Meet Up Mondays” to keep merchants in close contact with each other and with Chamber and City resources so that together, we can respond quickly to needs as they arise.

As the situation evolves, we intend to be flexible and prepared. It will require creativity, effort and persever­ance and we are committed to doing whatever it takes.