Few regions provide more of a "sense of place" than Southern Arizona. Less developed than other major desert destinations, the region is where the spirit of the Old West remains a living legacy and where spectacular desert and mountain landscapes are never far from sight.
Experiencing the natural and cultural essence of the region, even when constrained by a time-sensitive meeting agenda, is not difficult for attendees to do. A wealth of venues, activities and natural wonders reflecting the essence of the Southwest are within easy reach.
For instance, attendees based at resort hotels in the Tucson area will find themselves literally just steps away from pristine wilderness areas, according to Graeme Hughes, director of convention sales for the Metropolitan Tucson CVB.
"Immediate access to the natural environment is where Tucson differs from a lot of other Southwest destinations," he says. "Here there are mountains in all directions. If you’re staying at Loews Ventana Canyon, there’s a National Forest trailhead right off the parking lot. The JW Marriott Starr Pass borders Tucson Mountain Park. The new Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain borders the Tortolita Preserve—you can walk out of your guest room and get onto the Wild Burro trail."
Marilyn McIver, general manager of Southwest Conference Planners, a local DMC, adds that the Tucson area provides attendees with opportunities for "cultural immersion" that is rivaled by few other destinations.
"I’ve worked in Scottsdale and the California desert—those are new places. Tucson is old. It has the most amazing history of any place I’ve ever lived," she says. "People come here looking for a real Western experience. The architecture, the culture and the landscape all reflect it."
And yet while the interest visitors have in Tucson’s Old West heritage remains constant, Hughes notes that the ways for groups to experience it are constantly evolving.
"It used to be that meetings here follow a traditional pattern—opening with a Mexican fiesta with mariachi music and closing with a steak fry," he says. "These events are still popular, but there’s been a whole sort of emergence outside of that. For instance, the steak fry is more likely to be combined with a cattle drive or some other ranch experience."
Nature Experiences
Unquestionably the best place to experience the flora and fauna of the Tucson region is its No. 1 visitor attraction, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (www.desertmuseum.org).The museum, an active participant in wildlife recovery programs, is the place to see thousands of plant and wildlife species, some of them rare or endangered, native to the Southwest.
Set on 100 acres, the mostly open-air museum offers such intriguing features as a walk-through hummingbird aviary, rocky habitats for mountain lions and bighorn sheep, a cactus garden and a huge collection of fossils, gems and minerals from the desert. Possible activities include behind-the-scenes tours with an animal keeper and birds of prey flight demonstrations.
Desert garden vistas are a focal point of many function spaces at the museum, including the Baldwin Education Building with its glass panel wall opening onto an outdoor balcony. Other venues include the 270-seat Warren Theater, the tree-shaded Taylor Plaza and the Ocotillo Cafe, which offers both indoor and outdoor dining.
Even when attendees lack the time to visit the museum, they can still experience some of what it offers.
"If a group is having an intensive meeting and just can’t get away, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum will come to them—sending docents and wildlife to the hotel," Hughes says. "Groups can have a break on the patio, with an owl or a tarantula in attendance."
Stargazing is another example of natural phenomena that can be enjoyed at the meeting site.
"Astronomy is very big in Tucson, which has outstanding research facilities," Hughes says. "We frequently work with the Tucson Arizona Amateur Astronomers Association (www.tucsonastronomy.org) to get astronomers to come out to a poolside reception with high-powered telescopes that can zoom in on a planet or constellation."
The recently discovered Kartchner Caverns (www.azstateparks.com), a stunning limestone cave about 90 minutes outside of Tucson, is fast becoming one of the region’s most popular natural attractions. For groups who can spare the time, an excursion out to take the one-and-half-hour guided tour of the stalactite caverns is well worth it, according to McIver.
"It’s very pristine and beautifully preserved—one of the most unique and incredible places I’ve ever been to," she says. "The guides do a great job."
Old West/Historical Experiences
When it comes to experiencing the Old West, nothing fits the bill quite like a ranch venue. Fortunately, the Tucson area boasts an amazing diversity of group-friendly ranches, everything from dude ranches catering to corporate retreats to working cattle ranches that invite attendees to come along for the ride.
"The deal here is how Western do you want to be?" McIver says. "You can be at a beautifully manicured dude ranch that provides a kind of gentle approach. Or you can get down and dirty and do a cattle drive."
One of the most versatile ranch venues is Cocoraque Ranch and Pavilion (www.cocoraque.com), a century-old working cattle ranch set on 16,000 acres just outside of Tucson. The ranch caters to groups with facilities that include a large events pavilion in a desert setting and offers activities such as cattle drives, Western games and customized rodeos.
"Groups can leave the hotel about 2 p.m. and go on a horseback or wagon ride or do a cattle drive and arrive back at the ranch for a barbecue by dusk," Hughes says of Cocoraque. "With the cattle drive, you’re actually helping move the cattle across, but the guides are very adept at keeping things from being too challenging. And you’re riding along the mountain ridges and among the saguaros—it’s a classic Western landscape where a lot of movies were filmed."
To really get a sense of being in a Western movie, there’s no place like Old Tucson Studios (www.oldtucson.com), a theme park and set location for more than 300 famous Western movies and TV shows, including Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza and the 1956 film classic Gunfight at the OK Corral with Bert Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. Costumes, including a dress worn by Laura Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie, and other memorabilia from the shows and films are on display.
Built as a movie set in 1939 and expanded over the years, Old Tucson Studios is a ready-made backdrop for Western-themed events, complete with gunfight re-enactments and saloon hall musicals. An extensive program of team-building activities includes the chance for teams to produce and star in their own Western movie, learn what it takes to be a stunt double or participate in a City Slicker Rodeo.
According to incentive planner Joe Jeanette, senior vice president of Creative Group, Old Tucson’s filmmaking option went over big during a recent annual sales meeting.
"If you’re looking for a customized and ‘wow’ activity, there’s no better fit than Old Tucson Studios when in Tucson, Arizona," he says. "The end result was a customized team-building movie-making experience, followed by a high-end cowboy party that exceeded our clients’ and program participants’ expectations."
A real place that was featured in many Western movies, and what is referred to in both versions of the film 3:10 to Yuma, is southwestern Arizona’s Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park (www.pr.state.az.us). It offers a glimpse of life in the Old West’s most notorious prison.
The stone walls and iron-gated cells, where over 3,000 prisoners were incarcerated between 1876 and 1909, are the focal point of the park, which also includes a museum and spacious grounds with picnic facilities for up to 1,000 people. A full calendar of special events includes Old West reenactments on every Sunday from October through April.
Aviation history, both commercial and military, is the focus of the Pima Air & Space Museum (www.pimaair.org), an 80-acre complex in Tucson displaying over 300 aircraft dating back to the very beginnings of flight. Indoors, the museum accommodates groups of up to 700 for theme parties in massive hangars where the historic aircraft are on display.
According to McIver, the facilities and exhibits are only part of what makes the museum a "profound experience" for attendees.
"What really moves people about the museum are the docents, many of whom are the war vets who actually flew some of the planes," she says. "They tell their personal stories, making you cognizant of the prices that were paid."
