2023 In Review: a “Monumental” Year for Arizona’s Outdoor Recreation Industry

Public lands and outdoor recreation had some huge wins in 2023, making this year one of the most successful ones GO AZ has had yet. That's thanks to you — our GO AZ members! We’re celebrating and moving into 2024 by rounding up all of the news from 2023 in one place. Check it out:

2023 HIGHLIGHTS

President Biden created the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in August! GO AZ members showed up to support this designation throughout the year and lent an important pro-business voice to the discussion around it. Missed the memo? Check out our resources:

• Recap of GO AZ’s member roundtable discussion

• Our statement on the designation

• Economics of National Monuments

• National Monument Factsheet (PDF)

Arizona’s outdoor recreation industry continued to boom and break economic records – growing the industry’s impact yet another year in a row! From National Park tourists to local outdoor enthusiasts, our state’s outdoor recreation industry exists for everyone. 

• Breaking down Arizona’s outdoor industry

• Read GO AZ’s statement on the latest U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers

• NPR on the billion-dollar economic impact of Arizona’s National Parks

Thanks to Governor Hobbs and several federal investments, public lands and outdoor recreation projects in Arizona got a big boost. Read the news:

• Read about Governor Hobbs’ 2023 state budget here

• Read about the $6 million in federal investments here

Other Outdoor Rec News Highlights from 2023

• Representative Grijalva from Southern Arizona introduced the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act. It is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive outdoor recreation package! It brings together several popular bipartisan bills currently making their way through Congress in one package. Costing taxpayers nothing, the package is aimed at making it more accessible to partake in outdoor recreation, cutting the red tape around outdoor recreation activities, streamlining how government agencies manage and collect data about our public lands, modernizing services users need to get outside, and supporting the sustainable economic growth of rural communities. You can read the bill here (PDF).

• (Popular story from our monthly newsletter!) The Bureau of Land Management is taking advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act to bolster its hiring at the state and federal levels. Given the demands of increasing visitation numbers, these additional positions are sorely needed (source). 

• Arizona received $470 million in public lands investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. The money has been used to clean up abandoned mines, restore native fish populations, and offset the expense of wildfires (source).

• Public lands won at ballot boxes across Arizona at the end of 2023. The AZ Republic and KTAR News both reported that voters overwhelmingly approved bonds that would help preserve and build local parks and recreation areas. These wins are in line with polling from early 2023 (click here to view - PDF warning) indicating that investing in, and protecting, public lands has overwhelming support among Arizona voters, regardless of party affiliation.

• Tourists are spending an all-time high in Arizona! (Story from KTAR News, here)

Looking Forward To 2024

We’re launching the year with two new videos featuring Canyon Coolers and Parks Feed & Mercantile. These videos highlight the importance of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument to Arizona’s economy and local businesses. Watch and share them today!

Want to be featured in our next video campaign? Send us an email (info@getoutdoorsaz.org) and let us know. We don’t have anything planned right now, but we’re always keeping our eyes open for a good opportunity to highlight our members and Arizona’s public lands.

What’s the Beta? series continues! This year, we introduced a new educational series for our members and supporters. Our goal was to take complicated research and distill it down into something readable — and useful — for busy business owners. We want to make sure you have the tools you need to advocate for Arizona’s outdoor recreation industry and be able to use that knowledge to get more customers. 

We touched on the economics of National Monuments, breaking down what activities make up Arizona’s outdoor industry, how to tap into Arizona’s outdoor-oriented consumers, what kinds of public lands Arizona has to offer, and the importance of supporting local businesses.

Now, we want to know what you want to know – send us an email (info@getoutdoorsaz.org) and let us know what topics we can cover in 2024 to help you advocate for and grow your business and our outdoor industry!