NATIONAL & STATE PARK VISITOR COUNTS
- Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson (typically the most visited park in Cochise County) saw visits decline 0.7% in the first 6 months of 2023, compared to the same period the year prior. That followed annual growth of 30.8% in 2022, and 26.5% in 2021. The strong performance in those years, however, followed a 53.3% annual decline in 2020, the first year of the COVID pandemic. Despite strong growth in 2021 and 2022, annual visits to Kartchner Caverns in 2022 remained down 22.8% from 2019, the year prior to the pandemic, with no improvement in the first half of 2023.
- Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park saw visits decline 5.3% in the first half of 2023, compared to the same period of 2022. That follows annual increases of 8.1% in 2022, and 43.9% in 2021. The strong growth in 2021 and 2022, however, followed a 45.8% COVID-related drop in 2020). The annual number of visitors in 2022 was down 15.7% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
- Visits to Coronado National Memorial were up 1.2% in 2022. Coronado National Memorial was the only exception to the COVID-related drop in 2020 and rebound of 2021, with an overall increase in annual visitors of 19.9% in 2020 (the first year of the pandemic) followed by a decline of 16.9% in 2021. From 2019 through 2022, visits to Coronado National Memorial were up 0.8%.
- Chiricahua National Monument visits were up 14.9% in 2022, following an increase of 19.2% in 2021 (after a COVID decline of 26.1% in 2020). Overall, visits to Chiricahua National Monument were up 1.2% from 2019 through 2022.
- Fort Bowie National Historic Site saw visits fall 14.7% in 2022. That followed a 43.7% jump in 2021 (after a COVID-related decline of 14.8% in 2020). From 2019, the year prior to the pandemic, through 2022, visits to Fort Bowie were up 4.4%.
- In 2022, visits to Cochise County state and national parks overall (including national monuments, memorials, and historic sites) mostly continued the rebound that began in 2021 (following steep COVID-related declines in 2020, the first year of the pandemic). Despite recent increases, however, overall visits to the county's state and national parks in 2022 remained down 10.8% from 2019, the year prior to the pandemic.
IMPACT OF TOURISM & TRAVEL
- According to research by Dean Runyan Associates for Arizona Office of Tourism, Cochise County's travel industry (including business and leisure travel) generated $386.4 million in direct spending countywide in 2022, up 14.3% from 2021 (the year 2021 saw a 63.5% increase, rebounding from a 40.1% COVID-related drop in 2020, the first year of the pandemic). Travel-related direct spending in 2022 was at a record high (with records back to 1998, not adjusted for inflation). Cochise County's travel industry supported 3,500 jobs countywide in 2022 (up 8.8% from the year prior and the highest since 2019) with household earnings of $100.5 million (up 12.1% and at a record high), according to the study.
See spreadsheets, below, for monthly and annual Cochise County national and state park visitor counts by attraction, including national monuments and memorials (updated annually).