The Oro Valley Town Council has approved the creation of its first-ever Tourism Advisory Commission.

The new body is aimed at guiding the town’s efforts to strengthen tourism and hospitality and to bring more structured citizen input into how Oro Valley promotes itself as a destination.

The commission will provide guidance to the mayor and council about items related to tourism and hospitality issues, tourism plans and strategies, tourism budgets and may also study and make recommendations on topic-specific items as requested by the council or town manager.

“We took the foundation of the budget and finance committee, looked at the membership requirements — the number and residential requirements — and used that to formulate the tourism advisory commission,” Community and Economic Development Director Paul Melcher told the council. “Overall, what we’d like to do is mirror many of the same recommendations that arise from that commission related to tourism.”

The tourism advisory commission will provide the town council with citizens’ perspective on items related to tourism and hospitality. The town anticipates the commission will handle topics including:

• Resort and hotel support updates
• Budget review
• Strategy, marketing and website
• OV staff conference, trade show and training review
• Special events
• Sponsorships

The commission will be made up of five town residents, with members to be appointed by the council. The town does not anticipate any additional cost associated with the commission, with the exception of audio and video recording of the meetings.

During the discussion preceding the vote, Councilwoman Joyce Jones-Ivy sought clarification about the criteria and guidelines for applicants, acknowledging previous efforts to prioritize town residents and people with backgrounds relevant to the commissions on which they would serve.

Melcher said the town would be looking for Oro Valley residents who have experience in the tourism and hospitality industry, acknowledging that there is a wide variety of jobs that could offer relevant experience, including hospitality, attractions, travel, marketing, promotions and other related fields.

“We have a number of residents who are familiar with and have worked in the hospitality industry,” Melcher said. “I think there are a number of other residents in the community who would be willing to serve on the commission and be willing to provide that guidance to staff and town council on tourism issues.”

Appointments for the board will be for a period of three years ending Dec. 31. Members’ terms will be staggered so no more than three members will expire in any single year.

Meetings will be held at Oro Valley Town Hall on the second Monday of every month and will continue on that schedule for the first 12 months after the commission’s first meeting, which is tentatively set for Aug. 13. After the first year, meetings will be held on a quarterly basis.

Melcher said he hopes to have all five commissioners in place before the first meeting. He said his team is establishing a set of interview questions for candidates.

Melcher will be the primary staff contact, with the support of Oro Valley Destination Marketing Manager Crystal Franke. Councilmember Mary Murphy will serve as the Town Council liaison to the commission.

Prior to the vote, Murphy clarified with Melcher that the stakeholder group involved with developing the commission is not a public body and is not made up entirely of residents.

“For transparency’s sake, I just wanted to bring this forward so that … residents know that we as a council, staff, and town are trying to be as transparent as we can about everything going forward,” Murphy said.

The item passed by a vote of 5-0.

Sarah Arellano is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at saraharellano@arizona.edu.

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