The purpose of this study was to: 1) examine the affect of Arizona Highways Magazine (AHM) on Arizona tourism; and 2) calculate the economic impact and a return on investment ratio for AHM based on the magazine's cost and revenues as well as the value-added economic impact due to its influence on travel. Findings suggest: (1)A high percentage of subscribers have taken trips in Arizona over the past five years, and many in state subscribers have taken day trips in the same time period. (2) Subscribers use AHM fairly substantially as a source of travel information. They report the magazine has increased their interest in Arizona travel, and is helpful with making travel plans. Subscribers feel the photographs in the magazine especially increase their interest in traveling in Arizona. (3) About 35 percent of out-of-state subscribers who visited in the past five years indicated that AHM influenced them to visit Arizona on their most recent trip. (4) Subscribers have spent an average of over $136.4 million annually over the past five years, and $34.7 million of those expenditures can be directly attributed to AHM and its influence on the travel behavior of out-of-state subscribers. Given AHM's annual cost of $9.6 million, this amounts to a return on investment ratio of 3.6 to 1 at the very least.
Abstract