Santa Cruz County offers visitors a colorful past and present. Several missions and presidios built by the Spanish explorers and settlers are located along the Santa Cruz River. One such mission — Tumacácori, built by Father Kino — is a National Historic Park.
Tubac is Arizona’s oldest Spanish settlement, it exists today with numerous art galleries, working studios, and gift shops. The Tubac Center of the Arts provides arts programming and seasonal exhibitions. Tubac Presidio State Historic Park is also a visitor magnet.
The Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, is a rare cottonwood and willow riparian area, which allows visitors to see over 200 bird species.
The Circle Z Guest Ranch maintains Patagonia’s long-standing ranching tradition. Sonoita and Elgin, the first viticulture sites in Arizona, enable visitors to explore over 100 miles of wine country, along with tasting at several wineries.
The City of Nogales is home to the Pimeria Alta Historical Museum. Santa Cruz County is also a gateway to Mexico via the City of Nogales.
Other major attractions include:
1. Patagonia Lake State Park, one of the most visited state parks in Arizona
2. Tubac Presidio State Historic Park
3. Tumacácori National Historic Park
4. Whipple Observatory
5. Historic Nogales Main Street
6. La Cienega National Conservation Area (formerly Empire Cienega Ranch)
7. Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
8. Ruby Ghost Town
9. Arizona Trail
10. Santa Rita Mountains
Patagonia Lake State Park, which hosts about 200,000 visitors a year and is the state‘s third busiest state park, saw visits increase by 1.6 percent in 2008 and 16.1 percent in 2009, but decline by 19.2 percent in 2010.
Visits to Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, which hosts about 9,200 visitors a year, were down 3.7 percent in 2008 and 26.8 percent in 2009, but were up by 3 percent in 2010. In January 2010, the Arizona State Parks Board voted to close 13 state parks, including Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.
The Santa Cruz County government and Arizona State Parks Board entered into an agreement to keep the park open, transferring management responsibilities to the county as of May 17, 2010. The county concurrently transferred day-to-day operations responsibility to the Tubac Historical Society. Park visits in March 2011were nearly 27.8% higher than in March 2009.
Visits to Tumacácori National Historic Park, which hosts about 40,000 visitors a year, increased by 0.7 percent in 2008, but were down 4.5 percent in 2009 and 1.6 percent in 2010.
Travel-related spending up in 2009
According to research commissioned by AOT and conducted by Dean Runyon Associates, total travel-related spending in Santa Cruz County was $269.6 million in 2009, up 4.9 percent from 2008. This followed an increase of 0.7 percent in 2008.
In 2009, overnight visitors who stayed in lodging establishments (including campgrounds) in Santa Cruz County accounted for only 13.4 percent of all spending by visitors. Those who stayed in private homes, including vacation homes, accounted for 4.2 percent, while day travelers accounted for the overwhelming share at 82.4 percent of total visitor spending.
In 2009, 20.4 percent of spending by visitors to Santa Cruz County was for leisure and hospitality services (arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodations, and food service). Spending on retail (including food stores) accounted for 75.3 percent and transportation (including gasoline) accounted for 4.3 percent.
Approximately 1,960 jobs were generated in Santa Cruz County in 2009 by travel-related spending, according to the Dean Runyon Associates study.
Forty-eight percent of those jobs were in retail and 39.8 percent were in accommodation and food services. Travel-related spending accounted for approximately $49.8 million in direct earnings and generated approximately $5.3 million in direct local government tax revenue in 2009.
Other major attractions include; the Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve; the towns of Sonoita, Patagonia, and Tubac; and several Arizona wineries. Santa Cruz County is also a gateway to Mexico via the city of Nogales.
Lodging industry rebounds in 2010
Santa Cruz County’s lodging industry rebounded in 2010, according to Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT) lodging indicator data. In 2010, Santa Cruz County’s lodging occupancy rate increased by 13.2 percent, rising from 44.1 to 49.9 percent for the year.
This followed declines of 10.5 and 26.7 percent in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Despite the increase, the county‘s lodging occupancy rate for 2010 was below the statewide rate of 55.7 percent and the nationwide rate of 57.6 percent. The average daily room rate in Santa Cruz County increased by 1 percent from $71.26 to $71.98 in 2010.
Revenue generated per available room in Santa Cruz County was up by 14.4 percent from $31.43 to $35.94 in 2010. Lodging room demand was up by 19.1 percent and supply was up 5.2 percent in 2010.
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