Study: Tourism spending up across Navajo Nation

Spending by visitors to the nation's largest American Indian reservation has increased by nearly one-third over the past several years, and Navajo Nation officials are pointing to word of mouth for the uptick in interest in the sprawling reservation. Spanning parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the Navajo Nation covers more than 27,000 square miles. It borders the Grand Canyon and sits on the southern edge of the sandstone cliffs, spires and red desert expanses that make up Monument Valley. The Navajo Nation also surrounds the archaeological sites at Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico and is home to Canyon de Chelly, where artifacts and cliff dwellings dating from the 4th to 14th centuries line the canyon walls. A study done by a Northern Arizona University research center for the tribe shows some 600,000 visitors made nearly $113 million in direct purchases on the reservation in 2011. That represents a 32 percent increase in tourism spending since 2002...more