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What's New Eco-Adventures. Choose from the gamut of outdoor travel experiences, each customized to best fit your needs. Consider for your group guided hikes and walks, targeted for a theme you select, such as ethnobotany, geology, or history. Perhaps you're interested in a challenging backpack trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, or experiencing a thrilling mountain bike ride in Sedona's red rock country. Check out a river float trip on any of several rivers in our region, including the mighty Colorado. Our staff of 40-60 personable naturalists, archaeologists, biologists, geologists, and leading travel professionals include some of the very best people in our region, and will help you create an unforgettable experience for your group. Exclusive publications only from Conference Travel can be printed with your group's logo and custom program information to create an informative keepsake. We offer 3 high quality publications: Scenic Highlights from Phoenix to Sedona, an extensive, very detailed mile-by-mile description that turns the 2-hour drive into an interesting highlight. Seven Spectacular Hikes is our exclusive hiking guide to Sedona, rated "best guide for walks" by Walking magazine, complete with maps, background info, and trail descriptions. The Rhythm of the Rocks geology brochure shows all Sedona's rock layers, ages, and how they were formed. We include this as a value added feature on many of our tour programs. AT A GLANCE Flagstaff negotiates direct LAX air
service with Horizon Airlines starting June 23.
One-way LAX fares are projected to range from $89 to $161, with flights
scheduled a minimum of 5 days a week. Currently
the only scheduled air service is to and from Phoenix on America West Express.
But with a $19 million runway expansion project completed, Flagstaff moved
aggressively to expand air service. As
part of the deal, Flagstaff will pay Seattle-based Horizon up to $600,000 if
minimum passenger revenue is not met in the first year. Payson snags major new conventional
hotel, in a recent deal with Hilton.
The plan is for a 150-room hotel with 10,000 square feet of meeting
space, to be located next to the town’s 25-acre rodeo grounds, and across from
the existing casino which holds an additional 11,000 square feet of meeting
space. Combined, the facilities
could potentially accommodate groups far larger than can currently be hosted in
Sedona, and help Payson compete with other areas of the State.
Feel free to contact
us for information on all the excellent group options in our region. 3 Sedona properties make Conde
Naste 2008 “Gold List” –
Enchantment, L’Auberge, and Amara. Four more are in the Phoenix area – the Royal Palms,
Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, Four Seasons Troon North, and the Boulders.
Tucson has two – the Arizona Inn and Lowes Ventana Canyon.
We are very familiar with all these outstanding properties and are happy
to assist you with determining the best choice for your group. “Phenomenal” results from man-made flood in Grand Canyon, according to National Park superintendent Steve Martin. The 3-day flood, which released a sustained 41,000 cfs from Glen Canyon Dam, was intended to stir up sand from the bottom of the Colorado River, and deposit it on eroded beaches. The results were so successful that, in places, new beaches the size of football fields were created, according to Martin, himself a former NPS boatman at Grand Canyon. Proponents of the flooding regime are calling for this to be an annual event.
Water shoots out from Glen Canyon Dam to
flood Grand Canyon Flagstaff’s High Country
Conference Center readies for spring opening.
Located on the campus of Northern Arizona
University, the Center includes a 158-room hotel managed by Drury Hotels, plus
the adjoining conference center managed by a partnership between Sodexho and NAU.
The Center’s Grand Ballroom is capable of hosting 1,000 persons theater
style, and additionally has available numerous other smaller breakout meeting
rooms. This facility will be a
major new addition to the many quality group venues available in our region.
Feel free to contact us for full details. Arizona primed for wildflower explosion this year as a result of favorable winter precipitation. Abundant rain and mountain snow (Flagstaff has recorded over 7 feet of snow this season) is resulting in a green carpet in Arizona’s wildlands – which will soon burst forth with fields of fragrant and colorful wildflowers. The show starts normally in early March in Arizona’s lowest elevations around Phoenix, progresses next to the Upper Sonoran lifezone around Tucson, peaks in the Sedona and the Verde Valley area typically in April, and finally rewards the highest elevations around Flagstaff and Grand Canyon usually in May, where blossoms can commonly be found all summer long. If you’ve got an Arizona trip planned this year, you’ve got a great and unusual spectacle awaiting.
Brittlebush carpets the Sonoran Desert
with bright color Grand Canyon National Park proposes
changes in traffic management, to provide faster
and easier entry on busy days, and finally provide direct access to the Visitor
Center. The $32 million plan,
slated for completion by 2010, calls for a new parking lot adjoining the Visitor
Center, which now has limited accessibility, and primarily only by the park’s
shuttle bus system. In Tusayan, a
new parking lot and shuttle services would be constructed next to the IMAX
Theater. Parking improvements would
also be made at Bright Angel, and new access provided to Yaki Point.
Overall, we see these changes as needed and welcome.
We’re happy to help you incorporate this majestic wonder of the world
into your next group visit. Big changes in store for downtown
Phoenix this year, including the December debut in
of the $1.4 billion light rail system, linking downtown to the Sky Harbor
Airport and the ASU/Tempe areas. This
convenience will no doubt be welcomed by the many new visitors to the Phoenix
Convention Center, which is nearing the completion of its new North Building,
and those staying in the new 31-story, $350 million Sheraton Hotel, which will
be Arizona’s largest with 1,000 rooms. The
expanded Convention Center will be one of the nation’s largest, with close to
20 acres of exhibition space. In
addition, the new 44 Monroe building opens this year, which is
Arizona’s tallest residential edifice at 34 stories. Verkamp’s Grand Canyon closes in September. The oldest privately owned gift shop operating in any National Park – since 1906 – will cease operations, sadly, in September. Located on the South Rim next to the Hopi House, the National Park Service is buying the venerable gift shop and 3 adjoining residences from the Verkamp family for $2.5 million. What the NPS does with it has yet to be determined. We’ve enjoyed sharing this little jewel with our clients for many years. One of the most unusual aspects of this historic building is the cistern that gathers and stores rainwater from the building’s roof, which has been a sustainable source of quality drinking water for over 100 years. Contact us soon if you’d like one last opportunity to include the original operating Verkamp’s in your next Grand Canyon program. Thanks for reading For further information on any of these activities, to request an information kit, or just to ask a question, feel free to contact us at 928-634-7870 or email destinations@conference-travel.com
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