Sustainability

The Arizona Office of Tourism has established the Tourism Sustainability Council, a group comprised of a diverse and deeply committed group of people who are working on the issues of applying sustainable practices at Arizona’s many sensitive travel destinations, while preserving the environment and our state’s resources.

The Tourism Sustainability Council includes business, education, tourism, water and land conservation and public leaders, representing some of the best thinking in the area of sustainability. The council truly represents the best thinking in the state and is a tremendous advocate for sustainable tourism practices.

The Arizona Office of Tourism has defined sustainable tourism as sustaining the culture, heritage and environment of a region while at the same time promoting economic growth and social wellbeing through tourism. In addition, the Arizona Office of Tourism has also partnered with National Geographic to highlight statewide destinations and organizations that preserve and celebrate Arizona's unique culture, designated as Arizona Origins locations.  

Arizona is already doing many interesting things in the field of sustainability and other cities, states and countries are also advancing these ideas. The Tourism Sustainability Council will be a tremendous resource and repository of information for the state.

The Tourism Sustainability Council is looking at best practices both nationally and internationally, inside of the tourism industry and in other sectors, to see what is best for Arizona, allowing us to create a tourism sustainability implementation plan to educate and guide our industry on responsible sustainability efforts to preserve our treasured destinations.