Across Arizona, the state is starting to see the annual uptick in tourism that comes with cooler fall temperatures. To greet this growing demand, Marana is welcoming Laura Cortelyou as the Town’s new Tourism and Marketing Manager. In this role, Laura will oversee Marana’s efforts to position itself as the premier destination in Southern Arizona for visitors seeking all kinds of adventures.
Laura joins the Town of Marana from the Tucson Museum of Art, where she was Director of Marketing and Public Relations. She holds a master's degree from Fielding Graduate University in Human and Organizational Development and a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara in the History of Art and Architecture. Previously, she directed marketing for Forester Media, Inc., a publisher of civil and environmental engineering journals, and ABC-CLIO, an academic history publisher. She is currently the president of the Southern Arizona Attractions Alliance and a board member of Visit Tucson.
“Marana is a place with so much going on, and I’m incredibly excited to share this vibrant community with a wider audience,” says Laura about her recent appointment.
Last year, Marana launched www.DiscoverMarana.org, an artfully designed website that allows visitors to learn more about the Gateway to Southern Arizona. Since then, the site has welcomed thousands of visitors and even won the 2016 Governor’s Tourism Award for Interactive Technology.
In addition to this new web presence, Marana’s tourism efforts include advertising in publications across Arizona and northern Mexico, a partnership with Perimeter Cycling to host a segment of El Tour de Tucson in Marana, and collaboration with local hotels and retail centers to produce joint promotional materials. This work all contributes to Marana’s efforts to stimulate an active, dynamic local economy.
“Our goal is to promote our beautiful corner of the Sonoran Desert,” explains Laura. “Fortunately, Marana has so much to offer that our focus is about of all of the great amenities we have.”
