NATIONAL & STATE PARK VISITOR COUNTS
- Kartchner Caverns State Park in Benson (typically the most visited park in Cochise County) saw visits decline 1.9% in 2023. 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 2023 were down 24.2% from 2019, the year prior to the pandemic.
- Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park saw visits decline 7.6% in 2023. 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 2023 was down 22.0% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
- Chiricahua National Monument visits were up 2.0% in 2023, following growth of 14.9% in 2022 and 19.2% in 2021 (after a COVID decline of 26.1% in 2020). Overall, visits to Chiricahua National Monument were up 3.2% from 2019 through 2023.
- Visits to Coronado National Memorial were up 7.5% in 2023 following an increase of 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 2023, visits to Coronado National Memorial were up 7.5%.
- Fort Bowie National Historic Site saw visits increase 5.3% in 2023, after falling 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 2023, visits to Fort Bowie were up 10.2%.
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).