New ad promotes Phoenix tourism during the fall

Yes, summers in Phoenix can be excruciating, but come fall, it’s the Valley’s time to shine.

It’s the time of the year when many people start to flee cold-weather states — if just for a few days — in favor of Arizona’s capital and its surrounding suburbs.

A new two-minute spot promotes that idea to the hilt.

In the video, Visit Phoenix, a tourism website created by the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau, sells travelers on hiking opportunities set against great weather, as well as the downtown restaurants and art scene — including First Friday. The Visit Phoenix website takes it a step further, mentioning how film director John Ford and architect Frank Lloyd Wright loved the region. It also calls the Valley “Arizona’s urban heart and America’s sunniest metropolis.”

Tourism is one of the state’s biggest industries, and a July presentation by the Arizona Office of Tourism says travelers produced $19.8 billion in direct spending in 2013, resulting in $2.7 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue. Maricopa County was the recipient of $12 billion of the total direct spending. AOT also found there were 39.1 million overnight visitors (5.3 million of which were from out of country) last year. All numbers were up from the year prior.

If you already live in the Valley, the Visit Phoenix ad might give you a better appreciation of home. And if you have friends or family out of state, be sure to share the video with them. You may find some of them making plans to visit you before long.