Commentary: How Sedona, an epicenter of spiritual energy and Arizona tourism mecca, came to fear and loathe tourists

You’d think that a town dependent on tourist dollars would never stop advertising itself. But in Sedona, Arizona, with wealthy residents weary of visitors jamming up their roads and a bitter rift over what constitutes “the right kind” of visitors, that’s just what has happened.

After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sedona’s city government and the Chamber of Commerce made a joint agreement to quit advertising the town in glossy national travel magazines and doing social media posts targeted at rich people, since the marketing money would be wasted during the international shutdown.

The pause sparked infighting, which has since escalated. In April, the Chamber of Commerce’s its tourism contract with the city over the council’s refusal to fund “destination marketing.”