Tourism

$200,000 of BP Oil Spill Recovery Funds Will Pay for Top Chef to Come to New Orleans

Remember when BP dumped a crapload of oil into the Gulf? Well in a giant statement of "sorry 'bout it," they created a sizeable fund to help boost tourism in the state of Louisiana over 18 months. And if you're curious where all that money went at least part of the answer is to Bravo's hit TV show T ... More >>

Brit Pack

Dishcrawl Phoenix: A Walking Tour of Downtown Phoenix Restaurants on April 17

The last time we dabbled in downtown Phoenix food tours, it didn't go so well. Since then, the number of locally owned restaurants lining the streets of downtown has increased. We're crossing our fingers that the coordinators of the newest walking tour will really know how to share some of downtown' ... More >>

New York Times Discovers People on Subway Don't Know Much About Scottsdale

Reporters for the New York Times rode a subway this week to ask riders about Scottsdale.In the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau's latest attempt to get New Yorkers to visit Scottsdale, it's decorated subway cars, themed with potential tourist draws, like golf. The best part of this being, o ... More >>

Go to The Light

Wing It

For the Birds

Chow Bella's Top Phoenix Food Stories of the Week

Every week, there's a cornucopia of new Phoenix food news, features, and reviews to report here at Chow Bella. If you're like most people, you probably just don't have the time to get to all of it. It's kind of like those burgers at Old Town Whiskey; it just won't all fit in your mouth ... or in thi ... More >>

"Taste It Tours" Makes a Downtown Phoenician Want to Cry

Ever find yourself thinking, "Wow, I really wish there was someone who could show me around downtown Phoenix's bustling food scene. It's all so overwhelming"? Well . . . probably not. But anyway, Taste It Tours is here to satisfy your burning curiosity about all that downtown has to offer you and ... More >>

Puerto Vallarta is a Beautiful, Safe Place! (And Thanks for the Free Trip, Tourism Board!)

Okay, we didn't really take a press junket to Puerto Vallarta. But we apparently could have, for no more trouble than preparing an assignment letter for the Mexico city's Tourism Board and its PR company, Latititude. Check out the letter to "journalists" below. Sounds like we can expect to soon re ... More >>

Studio City

Arizona's Scientologists Are Terrifying -- and They Want Your Money

youtubeOur trusty Scientology tour guide Didi​The Arizona Church of Scientology is hard up for cash and is begging for contributions in one of the most frightening Youtube videos we've ever seen.In short: These people are bat-shit crazy excited. Armed with sunflower earrings and a crazed Joke ... More >>

Phoenix Councilwoman Peggy Neely Spent Six Nights in Hawaii to Woo Soccer Tourney to Phoenix that Didn't Need Wooing

www.moana-surfrider.com Councilwoman Peggy Neely stayed in a sweet suite in this oceanside Westin resort.​The Fiesta Bowl hasn't been the only organization handing out goodies to public officials.The Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau paid for Phoenix Councilwoman and mayoral wa ... More >>

At This Point, What's the Point of Art Detour?

Rocky Point Official: Future Shooting Victims Will Be Taken to Naval Hospital

Ray SternFausto Soto, Rocky Point Director of International Relations and Tourism.​Readers of New Times' cover story last week remember Fausto Soto as the Rocky Point official who spoke with us about problems facing the Mexican town's tourism industry. New Times contacted him last week to ask abo ... More >>

Fear Is Killing Tourism in Rocky Point, Mexico, Though Tourists Are Relatively Safe There -- For Now

Downtown Phoenix to Look Like Times Square, Compliments of Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns (and Why That Sucks)

Coming soon to downtown Phoenix.​Driving through downtown Phoenix today, we thought to ourselves "hmmm, this city definitely needs a collection of giant, gaudy, lighted ads for things like Pepsi, and Doritos -- on par with places like Las Vegas and Times Square -- to line the sides of buildings ne ... More >>

Cock-a-Doodle-View

Learn about urban chicken-raising in self-guided tour

Ghost World

The dead and the living walk and wander historic Mesa

Bright Side of the Moon

Get illuminated at Japanese festival

Joe Arpaio Calls for Boycott of Mexico Following "Threatening" Ad by Sonoran Tourism Board

These are two versions of the "threatening" ad. The one on the right appeared in Friday's Arizona Republic, the one on the left appeared Saturday.​The boycott battle wages on.Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced today that he is calling for Arizonans to boycott Mexico following a "threaten ... More >>

Flee Circus

Plan your great escape at the Arizona Highways Travel Show

Booze Cruise

Trolley tour hits up downtown staples and newbies

Dine4AZ Campaign Starts Today

Regular readers of Chow Bella already know we're big on putting your money where your mouth is. Now Governor Jan Brewer is helping to push the same message as part of a statewide campaign to "kick-start the economy" through dining out at local restaurants.   Dine4AZ, launched today by Shamrock ... More >>

Hot Links: Horne's Tickets, Frommer's Snub, and DNA Samples

​State school superintendent Tom Horne has received half a dozen speeding tickets in the past 18 months, including one for speeding in a school zone. Horne says he's paid all the tickets he's aware of, and said he is interested in running for attorney general next year...Chandler has barred the Vi ... More >>

Happy Campers and Hikers: State Parks Open After Employees Told to Report to Work Despite Lack of Budget

Image: Wikimedia Commons The state parks department sent out the following news release this morning, announcing that "closed" signs were being taken down at state parks. The Arizona Republic's Casey Newton reports that some campers had already been evicted as a state government shutdown loomed. But ... More >>

Cavalia

Denver Residents Invited to Take Pictures With Scenes of Sunny Arizona

The Arizona Office of Tourism wants Denver residents to think of sunny Arizona this winter by posing with cutouts of scenes from the state. Local marketing and advertising firm Moses Anshell sent a news release to New Times' sister paper, the Denver Westword, this morning announcing the pr ... More >>

Beastie Boys

These ain’t no leisure-travel cowpokes

Arizonans Give Generously to Pearl Harbor Memorial, But Goals Still Unmet

Arizonans and local companies have donated nearly $2.5 million for a long-awaited restoration of the USS Arizona  Memorial's visitor center in Honolulu, Hawaii, the tourist attraction that showcases the sunken tomb for the sailors trapped inside the 93-year-old battleship. Yet the fundraisi ... More >>

Hidden in the Hills Artist Studio Tour Art Preview Reception

Good Moon on the Rise

The sky's the limit at Friendship Garden

Luxury Sweets

Open Season

The Heard Museum taps into after hours

Traveling Companions

Gray whales are leading tourists, conservationists and business operators on a rocky voyage toward economic and environmental salvation.

Taxing Question

Law allows tourism authority to tap $1 billion for stadium construction

Ali's Mother and Her Dessert

This concoction is much more than the Middle Eastern equivalent of Jell-O

Best Tourist Trap

Rawhide Western Town and Steakhouse

Best Barbecue Beans

Joe's Real Barbecue

Quarterback Sneak

To get the stadium they want, Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill and Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano are playing fast and loose with the rules of the game

Silk Purse

You can't dress up a new stadium for the Cardinals when the owner wears no clothes

BOB's a Bust

Bank One Ballpark was touted as a powerful economic engine for downtown. Data show, however, that BOB has fueled sales mostly for BOB. The meager spillover doesn't bode well for the Arizona Cardinals' stadium aspirations.

Safari Tales

Forty years ago, the Valley's most exotic resort put Scottsdale on the tourist map

The Outer Space Undergroud

Arizona's quiet visionaries yearn to make the state a hub of commercial space travel

OH, GEORGE! ISN'T THAT A CHARMING MACHINE GUN?A TOURISM AGENCY PLANS TOURS TO STRIFE-TORN YAQUI SONORA

DAM EXPENSIVE

THE NEW VISITORS CENTER AT HOOVER DAM WILL COST $119 MILLION

TOUR DE FARCETHE AUTHORS OF AMERICA'S QUIRKIEST GUIDEBOOK PUT PHOENIX ON THE MAP

HAVE CREDIT, WILL TRAVELMORORISTS ENTERING MEXICO NOW NEED A MAJOR CARD

A TREE GROWS IN PHOENIX

FIFE IMITATES ARTTOO BAD HE WASN'T AT THE GRAND CANYON THE DAY THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN