Annual meeting celebrates the power of connections
Media Contact:
KJ Philp / Director of Communications / kj@tempetourism.com / 480-305-1366 / Download Photos
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TEMPE, ARIZ. (Feb. 13, 2026) — Tempe Tourism welcomed partners to its annual meeting Feb. 10, 2026, at The Westin Tempe in Downtown Tempe. Each year, this event provides the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) an opportunity to share its annual successes and future endeavors in attracting meetings and leisure travelers to the City of Tempe, its events, hotels, venues, restaurants and attractions.
Under the theme “The Power of Connections,” this year’s event highlighted staff accomplishments throughout the prior calendar year and celebrated the collaborative spirit of the city.
Tempe Mayor Corey Woods opened the event by highlighting the organization’s achievements in 2025.
“I am so pleased to see so many of you here today to show your support for Tempe’s hospitality industry,” he said. “Tempe is fortunate to have a diversified economy, and tourism plays a major role in Tempe’s economic success.”
By The Numbers
According to Tourism Economics’ most recent Economic Impact Study, the impact of tourism resulted in 4.5 million visitors to Tempe; $1.1 billion in direct visitor spending; $120 million generated in state and local taxes; and 8,500 total tourism related jobs in Tempe.
“As you can see, tourism is an industry worth celebrating in Tempe,” Mayor Woods added before welcoming Tempe Tourism President & CEO Michael Martin to the stage.
“The Tempe Tourism Annual Event is an opportunity to bring Tempe’s tourism community together to celebrate our industry,” Martin said. “The highlight was being able to share our team’s accomplishments of the past year and provide a preview of our recently developed strategic plan.”
Additionally, Tempe Tourism’s 2025 highlights included:
- 785 meeting and sports-related leads and 181 meeting and sports-related events booked, resulting in $50,405,637 in estimated economic impact.
- advertising deployed in key markets totaled 54,783,605 in circulation and ad impressions in addition to 1.5 million website visits.
- reaching an audience of 164,302 (all platforms), social media efforts accounted for 24,492,606 impressions.
Strategic Plan
Throughout 2025, Tempe Tourism worked with Clarity of Place — a consultant specializing in destination alignment and management — to build out a five-year strategic plan. This initiative resulted in the following five imperatives:
- Capitalizing on areas of opportunity and niches that can help Tempe thrive.
- Creating closer connections and improving ways to share critical data with our hospitality partners.
- Repositioning the value of Tempe Tourism, and the tourism industry as a whole, within our community.
- Continuing to support our staff’s growth and expanding our internal efforts for operational excellence.
- Developing a roadmap for future funding priorities for our organization.
Annual Awards
“Recognizing those who have contributed to these milestones is an important part of this event each year,” Martin said. “The annual Spirit of Hospitality, Tourism Impact and Tempe Gem awards are ways to thank the community for opening its arms to all visitors.”
The Spirit of Hospitality Award honors an individual who exemplifies Tempe’s local culture of friendliness by consistently delivering exceptional service and creating a positive and lasting impression for visitors.
This year’s award was presented to Brian Benitz, Director of Sales & Events at Grass Clippings at Rolling Hills, where he has been instrumental in growing and promoting this iconic Tempe attraction.
Benitz was nominated by Scotty Hebert, the golf course’s Director of Agronomy, who shared that Grass Clippings has “brought in over $17 million in revenue since its doors opened in July of 2023. Much of that has been driven by Brian through his extraordinary mind for event planning, world-class experience, and willingness to go the extra mile.” Hebert added that Benitz has increased Tempe’s presence on a global level.
The Tourism Impact Award honors an individual, business or organization that has made a significant impact in Tempe through hosting a meeting, conference or event in our community. By an enthusiastic margin, Dana Rowitz, Sales Manager at Omni Tempe Hotel at ASU was selected as this year’s award recipient.
Rowitz’s nomination recognized her as a steady, trusted presence at Omni since its opening. “Dana’s commitment to excellence has made her an invaluable resource to colleagues, guests and community partners,” the presentation stated. “Her dedication is evident in the way she supports her team, builds meaningful relationships, and consistently goes above and beyond to ensure exceptional service.”
The annual Tempe Gem Award is an annual donation made to a nonprofit organization that does outstanding work in the local community. This year, a check for $2,500 was presented to Mikey’s League. Karl Bender, founder & president, and Scott Freeman, founder & executive director, were present to accept the award.
Mikey’s League brings communities together through the power of inclusive sports. The organization unites children and young adults with physical or intellectual disabilities to compete as athletes alongside peers without disabilities, creating teams where everyone belongs, contributes and has the chance to shine.
“We’re proud to share the fruits of our labor with our partners as well as recognize our hospitality superstars,” Martin added. “As we delve into 2026, we’re thrilled for the exciting year of connections that’s ahead of us.”
Interviews with Tempe Tourism can be arranged upon request.
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Tempe Tourism is a nonprofit organization devoted to marketing Tempe, Arizona, as a desirable visitor and group destination.
