Travel is one of metro Tucson’s top industries. In 2019 (pre-pandemic), visitors spent $2.6 billion in Pima County, the travel industry employed 25,000 people in our region, and we accommodated nearly 8 million overnight visitors.
The COVID-19 pandemic cut visitor spending nearly in half to $1.35 billion in 2020. While domestic leisure travel has rebounded strongly, corporate and international travel, meetings, and festivals and events, continue to lag.
You will hear from Felipe Garcia, Interim President/CEO about Visit Tucson’s efforts to bring back Tucson travel to pre-pandemic levels, along with his predictions about how long it will take to get there.
J. FELIPE GARCIA – BIOGRAPHY
J. Felipe Garcia has a varied background in tourism, international trade, investments, business transactions and government strategies. Currently, Mr. Garcia serves as the Executive Vice President of Visit Tucson. At Visit Tucson he is responsible for developing and implementing programs to enhance the relationships between Tucson and Mexico. Mr. Garcia also works with the Tucson Film Office to attract film and commercial production to Southern Arizona. In addition to his work at Visit Tucson, Mr. Garcia is board member of several organizations including the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the Tucson City of Gastronomy. Recently, he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Board of the Delice Network with representatives from Brussels, Barcelona, Lyon, Stavanger and Cape Winelands.
Mr. Garcia was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to the Arizona District Export Council, an organization of business leaders that provides professional advice to help U.S. companies export.
Prior to joining Visit Tucson, Mr. Garcia worked for the Tucson-Mexico Trade Office as an economic development specialist, and for the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, where he was responsible for conducting in-depth analyses of the statutes and legal frameworks of several countries in areas related to customs, investment, trade and product liability, among others. While at the National Law Center he also participated in a project to introduce amendments to the Civil Code of Argentina, while working on issues dealing with liability in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Argentina.
Mr. Garcia has published several articles pertaining to international trade in numerous specialized publications, such as The Exporter Magazine and the InterAmerican Trade Report. Mr. Garcia has also participated as a speaker in various conferences around the world.
Every Thursday, you can see Mr. Garcia on two different Television shows in Mexico, providing insights about the U.S.-Mexico relationship to its viewers.
Mr. Garcia holds a law degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM) in Mexico and an L.L.M. in international trade and investment law from the University of Arizona, James Rogers College of Law.
The season for giving is here and we are all set for our Tucson Rotary Club Salvation Army Bell Ringing Day where you can give just a few hours of your time on Saturday, December 11th.
We have five locations and shifts are set in 2 and 3 hour increments from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Please go online, www.tucsonrotary.org and look down the left side to Upcoming Events and click to register for your Bell Ringing slot.
The Holiday Mixer is Tuesday, December 14thin the Coop at Culinary Dropout, 2543 E. Grant Road, start time is 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Please join us for an evening of holiday cheer and fellowship. All members must sign up on the websitewww.tucsonrotary.org under "Upcoming Events". Be sure to register your guests as well. Guest fee is $25 and will be billed to your account.
This event is a Replacement for our Lunch Meeting on Wednesday, December 15th.
We want to thank all of the riders in the El Tour/Ride to End Polio this year. If you would still like to support a rider, please have your donation in by December 1st. Here is the list of our wonderful riders:
We welcome President Mark "Irv" Irvin's challenge to fellow Rotarians to match funds for our club's use in supporting both our Club's international and local efforts. These pledges are for the 2021/22 Rotary year and donations will go to your favorite Rotary programs, i.e. Paul Harris, Scholarships, the Tucson Classics Car Show. If you are interested in supporting President Mark in his efforts, forms are available on the home page of our website under the RCOT Member Area drop down menu or at the registration table at our lunch meetings. Thank you.
We will no longer be streaming our meetings live via Facebook but we will be streaming live via our YouTube Channel. We are encouraging you all to subscribe to our Channel in order to receive notices of when the meetings are streaming live. After the live meeting, this video will become a recording and immediately posted on our YouTube Channel. To view live CLICK HERE.
To view videos on the RCOT YouTube channel go to our Home Page of the Club website and click on the YouTube link on the right hand side of the page. Or, go to YouTube and type in Rotary Club Of Tucson. You will be able to click on the video you wish to watch once they are posted. Here is the link to do this: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rotary+club+of+tucson
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