Greater Phoenix RANKS 11TH AMONG NATION'S TOP 100 TOURISM DESTINATIONS. 

 
"Metro Phoenix ranks 11th on a list of top 100 tourist destinations according to a study conducted by Global Insight, a Boston analytical firm. With New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas making up the top three travel destinations, Phoenix is behind Atlanta and just above Tampa, Fla., as a destination, according to the firm's Top 100 U.S. Tourism City Destinations for 2007.
Meanwhile, the report says Phoenix is more dependent on tourism as an economic contributor than cities such as Philadelphia and Seattle, which the study said are among the lesser tourism-dependent economies. It takes 135 visitors to create a single full-time job in metro Phoenix. (BizJournals.com/Phoenix, July 28)"

With the rebuilding of the Civic Center in Downtown Phoenix, the light rail, the renovation and expansion of large shopping centers and resorts Phoenix metro will probably draw in more tourists and I'm sure some of them buy vacation homes here.  This entire year there's been much interest from Canadian and European buyers in this market, though European buyers tend to buy on the East Coast.