Busy Phoenix-area hotels boosting state economy

[00:00:00]Simone Scott, good morning to you. This new report confirms that we have a massive hospitality industry here in the Phoenix area with billions of impact, 7.2 billion in economic activity. That is according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Big ticket events like the WM Phoenix Open, spring training, final four, and college football playoffs play a huge tourism drivers. The money doesn't just stay at hotels though, with local businesses and restaurants getting a piece of the pie, but are hotels over saturated here in Arizona? According to Brett Horton with the association, it is not, and the growth in economic activity is bringing even more hotels for guests to choose from.

[00:00:41]>> That shows great confidence in long-term demand within Phoenix. Uh you know, you drive down the road and you see all this new construction, you see hotels innovating and then providing new services and new amenities for people.

[00:00:51]That tells you people see Phoenix as a long-term investment.

[00:00:57]>> And Scott mentioned 42,000 jobs from this report tied to Phoenix hotels. 5 and 1/2% of all jobs uh in Arizona are tied to this hospitality industry. For now, I'm live in Phoenix. I'm David Caltabiano for Arizona's Family.