Community News

Grand Canyon Chamber Monthly Newsletter

February 8, 2018

 

Message From The General Manager

Laura Chastain

Congratulations on a busy winter break! The December numbers are in and NPS is showing a 13.77% increase in visitation for December this year compared to last and 4.15% increase year to date(December). Click here for the link to the current NPS Reports.

 

Happy Birthday Grand Canyon! February 26th the Grand Canyon turns 99!  There are a few celebrations happening around town.  First the official park celebration will be held at the Main Visitor Center February 26th at 2 pm with cake. 

 

Then the local celebration will be held at Grand Canyon Plaza Hotel in Tusayan on Thursday February 22nd from 4 - 7 pm with a Safari Expedition theme.  This local celebration is a community celebration as it takes all of us to support our 6,280,398 visitors.  The local celebration will include food, cake and a chance for you to learn about local resources you may not be familiar with.  We hope to see you all there!  We are still looking for some Raffle donations for this event - please let me know if you want to donate some prizes to show our support for all of our local employees.

 

NPS Shutdown recap:  The soft closure allowed us to not disappoint those that had plans to visit the Grand Canyon.  NPS created an incident command structure which allowed for a better flow of information.  The Governor's office stepped up to provide funding to keep operations as normal as possible.  Additionally the Town of Tusayan and several local businesses also offered support.  The state did an incredible job at letting people know the Grand Canyon was open.  ADOT posted messages on their highway signs to encourage folks to come.  We issued a press release and posted information on Facebook to also help spread the word. 

 

Road Construction There are currently 3 roads projects occurring in the park.  The projects will continue throughout the year with a hopeful completion Dec/Jan.  Their goal is to have the work done before the Grand Canyon Centennial Celebration.  NPS has set up a webpage with all of their latest information at http://go.nps.gov/roadimprovement or you can call the project hotline at 928-277-8010.  When major shifts occur - like this last Sunday - I will do my best to email and walk the information around Tusayan.  We have had guests in our office wondering where the Grand Canyon went - as they came in Desert View and then missed the turn at Center to circle back to the Visitor Center and ended up in Tusayan.  Please let's all work together to assist our lost guests.  Additionally if your business works regularly with bus companies and tour groups please provide them with the information above.  A best practice during this time frame would be to provide all the drivers with the most updated detours when they arrive to your facility. 

 

I am working on a Facebook campaign to encourage the park and ride in Tusayan which will begin March 1st.  We are also reaching out to the RV parks in Arizona and surrounding states giving them a heads up flyer that RV users should park and ride given the construction and limited RV parking. Thank you all for your support and if you have any additional ideas please let me know.

 

Our Grand Canyon Visitor's Guides are currently at the printers and we will be receiving this month.  Thank you everyone for your support - next year we will most likely have to increase the number of pages of the Guide. 

 

January Recap

Chamber Board Positions announced:

Clarinda Vail - President - RP's Stage Stop

Clayann Cook - Vice President - Big E Steakhouse

Julie Aldaz - Treasurer - Red Feather Lodge

Courtney Dixon - Secretary - Grand Canyon National Park Lodges

Becky Wirth - Member - Grand Canyon Trading

Freda Rahnenfuehrer - Member - Best Western Squire Inn

Romy Murphy - Member - Pink Jeep

All are always welcome at our Board Meetings - we welcome your input and suggestions!

 

Annual Chamber Luncheon

Thank you all that attended our Annual Chamber Luncheon - especially since we were all scrambling for information on the shutdown.  Thank you Plaza Bonita for hosting us the food was delicious and service was wonderful and welcoming.  Thank you Art Babbot for making the trip out and sharing with us information about the Mt Line transportation shuttles.

 

RTCA Grant  - The Chamber and Grand Canyon National Park received a grant to look at Opportunities to Support and Promote Multi-Modal Transportation within the Grand Canyon National Park Area.  Meetings began this past fall and have been progressing with a core group of stakeholders. We will be meeting this week to discuss our current progress and will be looking to invite additional businesses and local area stakeholders to a larger meeting this spring.  Additionally we are actively researching an Ambassador program that could be implemented as early as this spring/summer.  

 

Sponsorship Opportunities - The Chamber will be rolling out additional sponsorship opportunities as we continue to grow our services and offerings.  More information coming soon.