Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting one of the Arizona Office of Tourism’s (AOT) websites. As you navigate through our sites and related services, we may collect information about your visit that we can use to improve our services and provide a richer, more helpful experience for users.

Your right to privacy is of utmost importance to the State of Arizona in building trust and confidence when conducting business through the Internet, and you have every right to know what information is being collected and how it’s used.

This privacy policy details:

What information we collect.
How we use that information.
Ways you can protect your privacy and control what you share.

This policy covers information and data collected while visiting any of AOT’s websites, including VisitArizona.com, ExpeditionFoodieAZ.com, and our various trade and international pages. It does not extend to the use of external links that may be included on our websites.

Occasionally, AOT’s sites may link to websites owned and operated by other businesses, such as restaurants, hotels and other local attractions. AOT does not have access to the information gathered by those websites, nor are we responsible for their content or processing of personal information or data. Please refer to the privacy policies of those websites for further details on their own data protection policies.

About VisitArizona.com

VisitArizona.com is the official travel website for Arizona and is maintained by the Arizona Office of Tourism. In addition to this primary consumer page, we operate several international versions of the website, a trade and media-specific portal for businesses, and a food-related page, ExpeditionFoodieAz.com.

This privacy policy applies to all Arizona Office of Tourism websites and the following domains: visitarizona.com, visitarizona-cn.com, traveltrade.visitarizona.com, newsroom.visitarizona.com, and expeditionfoodieaz.com.

Information We Collect

We do not require anyone to disclose personal data to use our websites. This includes data such as your name, address, email address, or telephone number. In certain cases, we may ask for this information to provide services or fulfill requests like a newsletter subscription; however, providing this information is voluntary.

Data you provide: Information collected from a form submitted online will be treated in the same manner as the information collected from a verbal or hard copy submitted to AOT or its agents.

Surveys and sweepstakes: VisitArizona.com may use third-party partners such as Woobox and Survey Monkey to collect user information for the purpose of sweepstakes and user surveys. Your participation in these is voluntary, and submission of data constitutes consent for the storage and use of your data for the purpose of tracking participation and prize disbursement in the case of sweepstakes.

Requests for printed materials: On VisitArizona.com and its media site you can order brochures and guides by providing your name, business, email and postal addresses. This personal data will not be used for any other purpose besides fulfilling the order unless you explicitly requested to subscribe to our e-newsletter and receive email from us. In that case, your email will be stored until you unsubscribe.

Data we collect: We use technology such as cookies to find out how you and other visitors use our services such as which ads you interacted with and the type of stories you read and find most useful.

Device information: When you visit our websites, we collect information specific to the device you’re using: hardware (desktop, mobile phone, laptop, etc.), operating system (Mac or PC), and internet protocol (IP) address. This technical data is anonymous and used exclusively for statistical purposes – it is stored separately from personal data and cannot be traced to an individual person. [Your IP address is the number automatically assigned to your computer when you access the Internet. It is used to tell the website’s servers where to send information when a link is clicked.]

Log data: If cookies are enabled on your browser, we use these to track how you used our websites, including which pages you visited, if you’ve visited before, and how long you stayed on the site.

Cookies and similar technology: VisitArizona.com, AOT's other websites, and our partners use various technologies like pixel tags and cookies – small files sent by a web server and saved on the hard disk of your computer – to collect and store information when you interact with our services or other digital assets like our ads. When tied to products, such as Google Analytics, these help us analyze traffic to our site.

Consent to use cookies is considered given if your browser is set to accept the use of cookies. This also applies if the browser’s default setting is acceptance of cookies. If you do not want to use cookies and have your computer recognized by our sites, you can prevent cookies from being used by changing the relevant setting(s) in your browser to “Do not accept cookies,” or a similar setting. Your browser’s help feature can provide instructions on how to do this. Please keep in mind: If you choose not to accept cookies, this may limit some of the functions available on our websites.

Children: By statute, all Arizona State agencies must comply with the Children's Online Privacy Policy Protection Act of 1998 ("COPPA"), requiring parental consent before collecting any personal information from any individual under the age of 13. The text of COPPA is available at https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule.

User reviews: VisitArizona.com, in an agreement with TripAdvisor, displays reviews from users that were published on their website and/or platform. By submitting a review to TripAdvisor you waived all rights to where those reviews could be displayed, and they may be freely used, copied, distributed and published in any medium, and in any form, without your permission. For additional information, see TripAdvisor's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

We do not edit user reviews published on TripAdvisor and cannot be held responsible for them, including any further use, distribution or republication. AOT does not confirm nor endorse the opinions or attitudes expressed in user reviews, and they are provided strictly for informational purposes. A decision made on the basis of TripAdvisor or other user reviews on VisitArizona.com is at your own risk.

How We Use Collected Information

We use the information we collect from all of our websites and digital services to provide, maintain, protect and improve them, as well as to develop new ones. We also use it to offer you tailored content, like more relevant articles, itineraries, offers, and ads for related and relevant destinations on our websites.

In addition to sending you our newsletters, which require an opt-in subscription process, we may use your email address to inform you about our services, such as letting you know about upcoming changes or improvements – like edits to this policy.

The data we gather from analyzing log information and visitor traffic is used to help us understand our visitors’ needs and wants when accessing our site, and how we can best serve them. It tells us general usage patterns, such as overall visitors, most-frequented pages, and top-asked questions and searches. We use all of this, together with other industry trends to manage and enhance our site and its content.

Direct marketing: Subscribing to AOT’s e-newsletters is voluntary. While they mostly contain information about destinations and trip ideas within Arizona, our e-newsletters may also contain links to products and offers from businesses in Arizona or that offer tourism-related services within the state. You may unsubscribe at any time via a link in our newsletters. Once unsubscribed, your email will be deleted from our database.

We do not allow any third party to use your personal data for marketing or communication purposes.

Information We Share / Who Has Access to Your Data

We do not share personal information with companies, organizations or individuals outside of the Arizona Office of Tourism unless one of the following cases applies:

With your consent: We will share your personal information when we have your explicit consent to do so. This is most common with sweepstakes and giveaways, on which we partner with other entities, or if you request additional information from our tourism partners.

For external processing and distribution: AOT has agreements with the following entities to provide various data processing and distribution of our e-newsletters, brochures, the Official State Travel Guide, and other printed materials:

INFOX (printed brochures and materials, including our Travel Guide)
Tempest Interactive Media (website development and design)
BlueToad (Travel Guide app information)

Our partners are held to the same standard of confidentiality and security measures as outlined in our privacy policy.

For legal reasons: The information you provide will become a matter of public record pursuant to Arizona Revised Statute §§ 39-121, et seq. This means AOT may be required to share certain personal information in response to a public records request or in response to a warrant, subpoena, or other court order.

For regular business operations: Only specifically authorized members of AOT’s staff have access to the information you provide. Access is granted on a limited, need-to-know basis for the purpose of processing the data. These staff members are subject to strict confidentiality agreements and may be disciplined or terminated if they break their agreement.

Security

AOT and its consultants, as developer and manager of all of AOT's websites, have taken several steps to safeguard the integrity of their computer systems and networks. These steps include, but are not limited to individual authentication, the security of transmitted data, security monitoring, auditing, and encryption of your information. Security methods and measures have been integrated into the design, implementation and day-to-day practices of all AOT websites.

Your Rights

You have the right to know what data is stored and how it’s processed. If the personal information we have for you is inaccurate or inaccessible, you may contact AOT to correct the information.

Additionally, personal data is held only as long as needed to fulfill the initial request, or as required under existing law and regulations. We will delete personal data when a user contacts us and requests that they no longer wish to use the service (such as our e-newsletter or business listing). The same is done when we are notified of inactive email addresses or business listings.

Through the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), you may opt-out of all their partner cookies by clicking here: NAI Consumer Opt-Out.
You may also opt-out of all tracking through Digital Advertising Alliance’s Ad Choices program by visiting http://optout.aboutads.info.

Contact: To offer comments about the information presented in this Privacy Policy, please contact admin@visitarizona.com.

Changes to this Policy

This policy may be updated or revised from time to time. If substantial changes are made, we will provide a more prominent notice, including but not limited to, an email advising users of the changes and a pop-up banner on our websites.

Arizona Office of Tourism User Generated Content Terms of Use

Arizona Office of Tourism (“Visit Arizona”) reaches out to social media users to seek their permission to feature our favorite content on our various sites, social channels, and various promotional materials. You are reading this because Visit Arizona has requested your permission to use your social media content in this way. If you choose to allow us to use your social media content (“User Content”) by tagging @visit_arizona, using the #visitarizona hashtag, and/or replying to our comment request with the hashtag #YesVisitArizona, you agree to these Terms of Use. Visit Arizona engages a limited number of service provide.

If you choose to allow us to use your social media content (“User Content”) by tagging @visit_arizona, using the#visitarizona hashtag, and/or replying to our comment request with the hashtag #YesVisitArizona, you agree tothese Terms of Use.

Visit Arizona engages a limited number of service providers to facilitate the collection and transmission to theVisit Arizona websites (www.visitarizona.com and others) (the “Site”), social media channels, and promotionalmaterials of User Content, including photos, text, graphics, audio, video, location information, comments andother materials from social media sites, for use by Visit Arizona in connection with its business.

Visit Arizona reserves the right to alter these Terms of Use without advance notice by posting a revised Terms ofUse. Accordingly, you should review the Terms of Use each time you grant permission or authorization to featureyour User Content.

USER CONTENT LICENSE

You hereby grant to Visit Arizona and its related companies, agents, licensees, sublicensees, contractors, successors, legal representatives, assigns, and third-party service providers, and their respective retail partners, marketing or public relations agencies, and other affiliates (the “Licensed Parties”) a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, fully-paid, non-exclusive, transferable, sublicensable right to use your User Content in any manner to be determined in the Licensed Parties’ sole discretion, including but not limited to on webpages and social media pages operated by the Licensed Parties, in promotional e-mails and advertisements, and in any and all other marketing, promotional and advertising initiatives, and in any media now or hereafter known. The Licensed Parties may use, display, reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works from, combine with other materials, alter and/or edit your User Content in any manner in their sole discretion, with no obligation to you whatsoever.

You grant the Licensed Parties the right to use your username, real name, image, likeness, descriptions of you, location or other identifying information, including but not limited to your voice, in connection with any use of your User Content.

You hereby agree and represent and warrant that (i) you are solely responsible for your User Content, (ii) you own all rights in and to your User Content and/or have obtained appropriate rights and permissions from any and all other persons and/or entities who own, manage or otherwise claim any rights with respect to such User Content, (iii) you are not a minor, (iv) the Licensed Parties’ use of your User Content as described herein will not violate the rights, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity, moral, proprietary or other rights, of any third party, or any law, rule or regulation, and (v) the User Content is not libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, indecent, threatening, harassing, hateful, or offensive or otherwise unlawful.

You hereby release, discharge and agree to hold the Licensed Parties, and any person acting on their behalf, harmless from any liability related in any way to the Licensed Parties’ use of your User Content.

The User Content that you submit is deemed non-confidential and the Licensed Parties have no obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information, in whatever form, contained in any submission, except pursuant to the Licensed Parties’ respective privacy policies. By using this Site or the Services, you are consenting to the Licensed Parties’ collection of any personal information you provide for the Licensed Parties’ use and disclosure in connection with the use of your User Content as described herein. If you do not agree to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in this way, please do not use this Site or the Services or otherwise provide the Licensed Parties with personal information. Your personal information may be transferred to servers located outside the country in which you live or to third parties in other countries so that they may process personal information on the Licensed Parties behalf. By using the Site or the Services or otherwise providing the Licensed Parties with personal information, you agree to the foregoing collection, use, disclosure, transfer and processing of your information in accordance with the terms of these Terms, the Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws and regulations.

The Licensed Parties reserve the right to remove any User Content from the Site and the Visit Arizona Social Channels. If you believe any content, including User Content, residing on the Site or on the Visit Arizona Social Channels or displayed or used in connection with the Visit Arizona infringes any person’s or entity’s copyright rights, please contact us directly: admin@visitarizona.com

ADDITIONAL TERMS

Arizona Office of Tourism ('Visit Arizona') does not intend to create a public forum with its social media channels. The purpose of these channels is to provide (but not limited to) information about our state, tourism opportunities, and local businesses and services. Comments made to these channels must be limited to these topics. Comments made to our social media channels will be reviewed, and Visit Arizona reserves the right to remove comments that are unrelated to the purpose or topical scope of these channels, or that include any of the following: Obscenity; words that incite imminent lawless action; speech presenting a grave and imminent threat; fighting words; fraud or defamation; promotion or advertisement of a business or commercial transaction; promotion in favor of or in opposition to a candidate campaigning for election to political office; or copyrighted material. Visit Arizona may take steps to have a comment removed if it falls within one of these categories and may prohibit comments from any person who repeatedly violates this policy. Visit Arizona will not edit comments but may respond with corrected information to comments that are factually inaccurate or that misrepresent Visit Arizona or its purpose.

These Terms of Use apply to the entire Site, the Visit Arizona social channels and to your User Content unless otherwise provided. In addition, to the extent your User Content is displayed on the Site or on any of the Visit Arizona Social Channels, you also will be subject to additional terms of use, agreements, guidelines or rules provided by Visit Arizona applicable to such Visit Arizona business and User Content, including but not limited to those set forth on the AOT website at https://www.visitarizona.com/privacy-policy/, and you hereby agree to be bound by such additional terms of use or service, agreements, guidelines, instructions or rules provided or posted by Visit Arizona (the “Visit Arizona Terms”). You certify that you are at least 18 years of age.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

The Site or Visit Arizona Social Channels may be protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You acknowledge and agree that you do not acquire any ownership or other rights in proprietary information and materials of Visit Arizona by authorizing use of your User Content or otherwise using or accessing the Site or the Visit Arizona Social Channels.

MISCELLANEOUS

These Terms of Use are personal to you and may not be assigned or transferred by you for any reason whatsoever without Visit Arizona’s prior written consent; and any action or conduct in violation of the foregoing shall be void and without effect.

You agree that if Visit Arizona does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in these Terms of Use (or which Visit Arizona has the benefit of under any applicable law), this will not be taken to be a formal waiver of Visit Arizona’s rights and that those rights or remedies will still be available to Visit Arizona.

If any court of law, having the jurisdiction to decide on this matter, rules that any provision of these Terms of Use are invalid, then that provision will be removed without affecting the rest of the Terms of Use. The remaining provisions of these Terms of Use will continue to be valid and enforceable.