Tourism, Travel & Traffic Counts

NATIONAL & STATE PARK VISITOR COUNTS

• In the first 6 months of 2024 (January through June), visits to Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson (the most visited park in Cochise County) were up 22.7% from the first half of 2023, following an annual decline of 1.9% for all 2023. That was on the heels of 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 2023 were down 24.2% from 2019, the year prior to the pandemic.
• Chiricahua National Monument visits were up 18.1% in the first half of 2024, after increasing 2.0% in 2023, 14.9% in 2022, and 19.2% in 2021 (after a COVID decline of 26.1% in 2020). Overall, the annual number of visits to Chiricahua National Monument was up 3.2% from 2019 through 2023.
• Visits to Coronado National Memorial were up 35.2% in the first six months of the year, following annual increases of 7.5% in 2023 and 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 visits of 19.9% in 2020 (the first year of the pandemic) followed by a decline of 16.9% in 2021. From 2019 through 2023, the annual number of visits to Coronado National Memorial was up 7.5%.
• Fort Bowie National Historic Site saw visits increase 7.2% in the first half of 2024, following a 5.3% annual increase for all 2023. That was after falling 14.7% in 2022, following a 43.7% jump in 2021 (rebounding from a COVID-related decline of 14.8% in 2020). From 2019, the year prior to the pandemic, through 2023, the annual number of visits to Fort Bowie was up 10.2%.
• Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park saw visits drop 3.9% in the first six months of 2024, compared to the same period a year prior. That was after an annual decline of 7.6% in 2023 (following annual increases of 8.1% in 2022 and 43.9% in 2021, rebounding from a 45.8% COVID-related drop in 2020). The annual number of visitors in 2023 was down 22.0% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019.   

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 $390 million in direct spending countywide in 2023, up 1.4% from the year prior (that followed increases of 63.5% in 2021 and 13.8% in 2022, rebounding from a 40.1% COVID-related drop in 2020, the first year of the pandemic). Travel-related direct spending in 2023 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 2023 (up 2.9% from the year prior) with household earnings of $103.5 million (up 6% from 2022), 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 twice annually).

In 2023, the busiest stretch of highway in Cochise County was Interstate 10 between Skyline Rd and State Route 90 in Benson, with an average annual daily traffic count (AADT) of 33,834, according to data from Arizona Department of Transportation. Off the interstate, the busiest stretch of highway was State Route 92 in Sierra Vista, from State Route 90 (Fry Blvd) to East Foothills Dr, with an average of 27,662 vehicles daily.

See spreadsheets, below, for annual Cochise County traffic counts for all measured stretches of US and state routes countywide