Marc Garcia
President and CEO of Visit Mesa, which recently became the first-ever destination marketing organization designated as a “Certified Autism Center”
What does this designation mean for Mesa and Arizona as a whole? Exactly that, Mesa is first. This initiative to become autism-certified, and our efforts to expand this beyond just our organization, is consistent with who and what Visit Mesa has become over the past several years. We strive to be on the forefront of the latest research, technology and trends in our industry–adopting best practices–and this movement is nothing different. We are recognizing where the marketplace is going and being first is consistent with the culture of our company.
Your child was diagnosed on the spectrum. What does this designation mean to you, personally? Like any parent, when you receive the news that we did that your child has autism spectrum disorder and that the diagnosis is severe, your world is rocked. You enter a state of disbelief. Naturally, that leads to so many questions: Who offers services? Where do I go? The next phase of discovery for us was ‘What can I do?’ and this really stemmed from experiencing for ourselves the strange looks from others when visiting a restaurant or hotel while traveling with Mason. The experience makes you feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Recognizing that I can potentially do something about this was all part of the journey, and on this path, I really examined what I could do within our industry to see what attractions, restaurants and hotels would be open to this community. What we are doing is beyond autism-friendly. Certification takes it to the next level. It’s a top-to-bottom educational platform that gets to the heart of the matter which is recognition of what this disorder is and what it looks like. This way people in our hospitality industry can identify when their guests might need additional support, compassion and understanding.
In what ways do you hope other visitor industries follow in Visit Mesa’s footsteps? I hope we get to a point where every destination is autism-certified. This truly comes from my personal belief that this country is not fully informed or aware of how our service levels in all facets of society will change. We don’t have a choice; we all must move in this direction.
What do you hope for the future of tourism within the Valley? For Mesa, this is just the beginning. We are in phase one of what will likely be a long journey in our efforts for total inclusivity. This moves beyond ASD and other sensory disorders but for all disabilities. As it specifically relates to ASD, the focus is on awareness of what we are doing in Mesa and making sure our partners and their front-facing employees are trained and keeping up latest research, trends and training methods. We can see this eventually making employment connections for people with ASD in our industry. More generally, Mesa is a dynamic city with a diversified economy that will see tremendous change in the coming years with an already great infrastructure in place.
What influence do you hope to have on the Valley? We are already seeing the influence across the city with both the Mesa Chamber of Commerce and Mesa Parks and Recreation and Mesa Fire Department immediately following in our footsteps. The Arizona Office of Tourism completed certification for their staff this summer and now we are seeing businesses outside the industry showing sincere interest in becoming autism-certified and reaching out to us to learn more. The groundswell is moving well beyond our organization which has been by far the biggest reward.
