The initial meeting of Sedona’s Tourism Advisory Board, a work session with city tourism consultants from Corragio and DVA Advertising, took place on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

During the meeting, the board’s members reiterated commitments to managing tourist behavior and stated that the core value of protecting the “sacred” environment should be central to Sedona’s tourism planning.

Opportunities & Challenges

“Our role is to guide the strategic planning process,” Colleen Floyd, of Corragio, said before asking the members what they saw as the main opportunities for Sedona as a destination over the next two years.

Alisha Hansen called for “a consistent message that jives with what the [Sedona] Chamber [of Commerce] is doing” and reintroducing the value of arts and culture, while Chairman David Price discussed his past experiences sitting in traffic near the Chapel area for two hours as an example of the need to reduce negative experiences.

Frances Riemer wanted Sedona to be known “as a place that does tourism well,” and Randy McGrane said there was an opportunity to educate businesses and lodging.

“Education for residents is incredibly important as well,” Danielle Sohn said.

Craig Swanson wanted to draw attention to “the incredible cultural resources that are here” and emphasize Sedona’s dark sky credentials.

Floyd then asked members for the top three challenges they thought Sedona faced.

“Overuse,” Swanson said.

“I also agree about the overuse,” Hansen said. “There was days I nearly cried with all the litter and the abuse that was happening out there.” She then called for “management of our precious areas.”

Riemer named day tripper management as a specific challenge.

“We don’t control everything,” McGrane said. “We’re not the forestry, we’re not [Arizona Department of Transportation] … the ability to control the outcome is going to be hard.”

Althea Johnson commented that residents “just don’t understand the ins and outs of how the city works.”

Values

Michelle Janke, of Corragio, asked the board’s members to share core values that “you think most Sedona residents believe in or hold dear.”

“Outdoorsy,” Price said.

“City surveys have, I think, regularly had the environment itself at the top of the list,” Swanson said.

“There’s a certain value in orderliness,” Riemer said. “We don’t want people to be littering. We don’t want a lot of loud noise.”

“We feel like everyone should be responsible when they come here,” Hansen said.

“We want our visitors to treat it as sacredly as we do,” Richard Kepple said. “I would emphasize the word ‘sacred.’”

“I’m thinking of words like tranquil, serene,” McGrane said. “There is such a pent-up tension that detracts from a peaceful existence.”

“We like our restaurants, so that’s an important value,” Robert Pifke said.

Janke then asked what values members wanted Sedona’s future visitor to have.

“What I expect is that there’s going to be more visitors looking for a thrill,” Swanson said. “It’s not what we want. We want the slow tourist.”

“We want a responsible tourist,” Hansen said. “We want someone that values the culture and the arts … We also want the tourist that is seeking those spiritual journeys.”

Vice Chairman John Fitzgibbons cited “respectfulness of the land” as a desirable quality in visitors.

“For people to be able to go out and enjoy the national lands in the ways that they’d like to enjoy them, but while they’re in they’re mindset, they’ve been educated or reformed or whatever the term is, so they’re also trying to minimize their impact, especially the long-term impact,” Price said. “It’s a Sedona thing. Get with it.”

Along similar lines, Mary Angelo of DVA Advertising later asked members to describe Sedona’s personality.

“I think we’re special,” Hansen said. “We’re creative and we’re embracing.”

“We’re a solid place to come,” Swanson said.

“Maybe it’s staid,” Price said. “Maybe we’re a little bit fuddy-duddy … maybe reserved.”

“I like the word alluring,” McGrane said.

Stewardship

When Floyd asked TAB members about their views on what the mission and ideals of the city’s tourism program should be, one word kept recurring.

“We’re stewarding this precious land,” McGrane said.

Swanson suggested the program’s mission statement be “To effectively attract responsible visitors who will act as stewards of the land.”

“We also need to create visitors that will act as good stewards of the land,” Price said, while Fitzgibbons suggested that the mission statement refer to stewardship of the community rather than the land.

“Stewarding tourism in the way that we steward the land,” Riemer said.

“What if it’s the first destination where the residents embraced the visitor?” McGrane said.

“I think it would be amazing if we had a transportation system where people wanted to get on the shuttles … [and] there was no parking at the trailheads at all,” Swanson added.

Sohn said that “from a hotel perspective, the guests do exactly what the employees tell them they should do.”

Goals

Members also discussed what success in tourism management would mean to them.

“We want it to remain a sacred place,” Pifke said. “Fewer complaints from residents about tourism, and more positive comments from businesses about business.”

“My life will be better as a community resident,” Riemer said. “Traffic maybe is more spread out. I get some parking or the stores give us discounts.”

“We don’t see the destruction that we’ve seen,” Hansen said. “We see a change in our physical environment for the better … I’d like to be able to go out on the trails … I want to be able to go to [a restaurant] and not be told, ‘No, I’m sorry, you can come at 10 p.m. at night.’”

“Our visitor profile will evolve closer to what our ideal is,” McGrane said.

“Less restrictions on bringing visitors to Sedona,” Sohn said. “I feel like there’s a lot of restrictions on what we are allowed to cater to.”

When asked by Angelo to offer examples of these restrictions, Sohn was unable to do so and attributed them to “the circumstances” of the last few years.

“We’ll be able to tell everybody just how the money’s actually being spent and the effect of that money so they understand the choices that were being made by the city council,” Kepple said.

“If there’s less of the griping in town,” Swanson said. “That’s what success is to me.”

“A reduction in discontent and a reduction in stress,” Price said.

Messaging

“What is the most important thing that you want potential visitors to know about Sedona?” Angelo asked the TAB’s members. “That it’s sacred,” Sohn said. “Sedona can change you,” Swanson offered. “They need to know that we’re not snobby,” Price said.