Why Travel Works for Mesa’s Economy, Culture, and Community
It’s a sunny Thursday morning in downtown Mesa, and the team at Jarrod’s Coffee is already greeting a mix of regulars and new faces. A couple visiting from Illinois is here on their way to a Cubs Spring Training game. They ask for lunch recommendations, and the barista doesn’t miss a beat: “You’ve gotta check out Worth Takeaway—it’s just down the street. Best sandwiches in town.”It’s a small moment—but it’s the kind that happens every day in Mesa. And during National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW), we’re celebrating exactly that.
This year’s theme, "Travel Works" is about more than economic impact. It’s about how travel weaves through our daily lives, supporting the people and places that make our city special.
More Than Visitors, It’s a Community Engine
When people think about tourism, they often picture hotel bookings, packed restaurants, and photos in front of desert sunsets. But behind every visit is a local story being supported—like the gallery that sells another handmade print, the brewery that hires two new servers for the season, or the coffee shop that becomes someone’s favorite local discovery.
Mesa welcomes over 4.4 million visitors annually, and their spending generates more than $748.6 million in economic impact, according to our most recent Tourism Economics Report. That means real jobs. Real businesses. Real people building a life here.
But it goes deeper than dollars.
How Travel Shapes Perception and Possibility
What happens when someone visits Mesa for the first time? Maybe they’re here for a youth sports tournament. Maybe they’re tagging along on a work trip. Maybe they’re just driving through.
But by the end of their visit, they’ve eaten our food. They’ve seen our mountains. They’ve felt the warmth of our community. And maybe—just maybe—they start to see Mesa not just as a place to visit, but a place to return to. To start a business. To retire. To raise a family.
That’s the power of the Halo Effect, confirmed by our recent brand perception study: people exposed to Mesa’s tourism messaging are significantly more likely to view it as a great place to live, work, and invest. Travel doesn’t just promote destinations—it elevates reputations.
Let’s Keep Mesa Moving
So this National Travel and Tourism Week, we invite you to pause and notice the moments where tourism touches your day. Maybe it’s the new café that opened thanks to increased foot traffic. Maybe it’s a friend who got their first job at a hotel. Maybe it’s your own favorite local gem, discovered through the recommendation of someone just passing through.
In Mesa, Travel Works—not just because it brings people here, but because it helps all of us move forward, together.