Here's your chance to see some great artwork and beautiful landscape in Sedona, Arizona. Explore Hopi and Days Inn Kokopelli invite you to our Art Gallery Opening, April 30,2014.

 

 

Walpi Village- First Mesa
Photo courtesy of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office

 

EXPLORE HOPI FEATURES TOUR PACKAGES JUST FOR YOU!

We would like to feature the Explore Hopi tour packages for our visitors. Our tour packages accommodate 2 people and include various night stays, tour options, vouchers, and meals. To get the upmost out of your visit to Hopi land, arts, and culture, we suggest you take a look at our Yellow Corn Package (Siikyang'pu Qa'o). This particular package offers a 4 night stay (2 nights at the Hopi Cultural Center and 2 nights in Sedona), Gas Voucher, Meal Voucher, an Explore Hopi Dinner, and a Full Day Tour on Hopi. The more time spent on Hopi, the more to capture a timeless experience with your mind, heart, and soul. We offer other options for tour packages, if your time is limited. For prices and other tour package options, please refer to our website at: www.explorehopi.com , or feel free to give us a call at (928) 734-0044.



Explore Hopi interviewed our own Ron Scheuerman, General Manager, Hopi Travel Plaza. We stopped in at the Travel Plaza located at the “Eastern Gateway to Hopi,” took some pictures and found out a little about the history, discussed what’s new and got some ideas for possible plans being considered for the future. We also met Nellie Coronado, the Hopi restaurant manager.

Ron Scheuerman, General Manager, Hopi Travel Plaza

Hopi Travel Plaza Restaurant

Hopi Travel Plaza

Can you give us just a little basic background on this facility and your involvement here?

Ron: “It has been Hopi-owned since 2002. The facility itself has been here since 1978. I’ve been with the Corporation [Hopi Tribe Economic Development Corporation, HTEDC] since February 2013.”

What are some of the main parts of this business and opportunities here at Hopi Travel Plaza – and are there other things that stand out for you?

“Our market is travelers and the local community. We continue to evaluate other services that will appeal to these consumers.” Ron explained they do get truck drivers, but that is not the majority, the heart or the main focus of the Hopi Travel Plaza’s business.

The Travel Plaza is really a mini mall with multiple shops and food services as well as a fuel station. “We like to think given all that we have to offer, we are worth the drive.”

“When one visits the Plaza they will find a travel gift shop, a knife shop, a sit-down restaurant as well as fast food (Burger King) and a salon. Under the expert direction of our Hopi manager, Nellie Coronado, the restaurant has new menus and a new paint scheme. New menu items are Hopi hot beef and a Native taco as well as a native dessert. The banquet room has been recently remodeled and now can accommodate 30 comfortably.”

The Hopi Travel Plaza also has all services found in a traditional travel center including a large convenience store and truck repair. Hopi Travel Plaza also has a Conoco gas station and sells gas, diesel and propane. There is a full-service diesel shop with full time mechanics on duty 24/7. With a propane tank recently added, the Plaza now has the ability to fill up RV tanks.

The management sees the Hopi Travel Plaza and Holbrook to be a destination place. Holbrook has native dances every night. They feel that there may be opportunities to bring some of those dances to the Travel Plaza as well as other events. This could create the ability to offer other services such as a RV Park. Ron stated “We are thinking about putting in an RV park. We still need to do the market study but there may be a market void that the Travel Plaza can fill. With the Petrified Forest nearby the two RV parks in Holbrook fill up fast. The question is, can the area support a third?”

One opportunity Ron is exploring with a Hopi theme is a walk-through Hopi Museum including a Hopi Visitor Center as an added attraction to the Holbrook area and amenity at the Travel Plaza. “We are also looking at possibly bringing a Hopi artist on site, and we are also looking into actively selling Explore Hopi packages. That will bring the Hopi cultural and educational experience to those stopping by.” Per Ron, “My thought with Explore Hopi is you can start here, buy the package while spending some time at Petrified Forest, go to the Hopi Cultural Center then finish at Days Inn Kokopelli in Sedona. “This way you get to experience Hopi as well as many other Arizona attractions all in one vacation.”

The Plaza is focused not only on the future but improvements in the present. Ron stated that the restrooms are slated to be remodeled hopefully by the first of the year and they have added new services over the last six months such as DVD rentals, fresh fruit cups and hot pizza made to order. “With nearly 700 visitors a day to the Hopi Travel Plaza we are focused on offering them the best in convenience, plus shopping and an eating experience. This will separate us form the competition and help us grow our business.”

You are exploring other things to promote and themes to help market this Hopi Travel Plaza?
“We have talked about a lot of things already. With all the added services and shops, we now have to develop a branding strategy to draw people in.” One of the things under consideration is a Route 66 theme. I’ve met with Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest National Monument, the Holbrook and Winslow Chambers of Commerce and we’ve talked about different things. We know that in Australia and Germany the Route 66 theme is huge – folks fly into Chicago or to the western end in California they rent a Harley and they drive the route. The numbers of travelers on motorcycles that come through Holbrook average about 14,000 per year. We all agree the western side of Route 66 has a great marketing strategy because of Grand Canyon. But we have a lot to offer: Petrified Forest, Canyon de Chelly, Explore Hopi, of course, and Meteor Crater.”

The Hopi Travel Plaza has a huge atrium. Per Ron “My thought is the possibility of a visitor center where people can come and get information for all of these activities you can do in Eastern and Northern Arizona. We want to say: stop in here and get all your information, to get travel ideas for Arizona.”

What are things you really like about this job, what gets you excited about being here?

“It’s a great challenge. It’s exciting for me and our team: the opportunity to take something that was struggling and lacked direction and make it into the shining star of the HTEDC portfolio through offering world class service to our customers… I take much more pleasure to step back and look and say: We built that.”

Don't forget to come visit us at the 4th Annual Hopi Festival, Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona. This event to take place September 28th and 29th, 2013.
Click on the link below to get more info from HTEDC's own Lisa Talayumptewa!! See you there!

http://www.naztoday.com/living/2013/09/native-american-arts-culture-come-downtown-flagstaff/

 

Explore Hopi website launched -- the Hopi Tribe Economic Development Corporation announces an authentic, official new online resource for visitors to Hopi & Arizona

ExploreHopi has a brand new website (ExploreHopi.com), just launched to serve visitors to Hopi and other tourism attractions of the Hopi Tribe Economic Development Corporation (HTEDC).

“By launching our online presence, visitors will now have a single source that will help them plan their trip to Hopi,” said Kevin Lombardo, CEO of HTEDC. “In addition, some of the best Hopi art will be available very soon for sale through this portal.”

Explore Hopi is an invitation to visitors to tour Hopi lands. Explore Hopi’s tour operators provide custom tours to highlight art, petroglyphs & Hopi villages. ExploreHopi.com is an official, HTEDC-owned resource highlighting the tradition & culture plus history of the Hopi people. Each of several Explore Hopi tour packages also includes the Explore Hopi dinner in the Hopi Cultural Center Restaurant, where visitors are served traditional foods, in the way they were intended, family-style.

“Hu’vaam Yee’se, welcome to Explore Hopi!,” said Clarice Tafoya, Explore Hopi Director.  “Explore Hopi is a link to the past by maintaining cultural traditions while experiencing a modern Hopi lifestyle.”   

Explore Hopi and a main feature of its new website, ExploreHopi.com, is the offering of authentic, outstanding variety for visitors to experience the Southwest. Explore Hopi invites visitors to stay at Days Inn Kokopelli in Sedona, to refuel with a cultural break from a Southwest journey at the Hopi Travel Plaza in Holbrook and to base a visit to the Hopi center of the universe at the Hopi Cultural Center Restaurant & Inn on Second Mesa. The Days Inn Kokopelli, Hopi Travel Plaza and Hopi Cultural Center Restaurant & Inn are all owned and managed by the Hopi Tribe Economic Development Corporation on behalf of the Hopi Tribe.

“Bringing together all of the offerings of Hopi, the HTEDC and our properties will allow folks the chance to experience Hopi arts, culture and history by taking a trip back in time while enjoying the Hopi hospitality of today,” said Lombardo.

Explore Hopi is thrilled to offer a new website for all travelers to this undiscovered part of Arizona. ExploreHopi.com is a resource to a very special cultural experience for visitors to the Grand Canyon State – visitors from other parts of the U.S. and those from all over the world. Hopi features breathtaking surroundings that fill the senses and feed the soul. The three mesas, home to the 12 villages of Hopi and Tewa, are truly unique and offer once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The Hopi people have lived here for centuries — Oraibi village is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States.

“Explore Hopi has so much to offer our guests on Hopi way of life, the culture, history, historic petroglyphs, agriculture, astrology, Hopi cuisine and much more,” said Tafoya. We are looking forward to seeing you in Hopi land!”

Explore Hopi has:

Hopi artist explains his work to a visitor to Hopi

• Guide services
• Buy direct from Hopi’s best artists & consignment through the ExploreHopi.com website [coming soon!]
• The only restaurant offering traditional Hopi dishes
• The only lodging in the heart of Hopi
• Concierge services
• Hopi Visitor Information Center
• Educational information

Explore Hopi is a trip back in time, an authentic excursion into timeless art, a place to really relax & “get away,” with educational immersion and a Hopi cuisine experience. The Explore Hopi staff, including the Hopi Cultural Center concierge, can be contacted via ExploreHopi.com. Staff are poised and eager to help guide visitors to outstanding and authentic Hopi art and to make a visit to the ancient but thriving Hopilands a memorable cultural journey that is beyond compare.

A cultural journey to Explore Hopi awaits. Plan a visit soon to Hopilands by first stopping by ExploreHopi.com!

Explore Hopi is sponsored by the Hopi Tribe Economic Development Corporation, HTEDC. HTEDC was formed in 2005 by the Hopi Tribal Council to create and harness an economic environment that will blossom, by securing resources, and provide the guidance and training that allows Hopi Tribe members to prosper and preserve their homeland and culture. Headquartered in Flagstaff, the HTEDC owns and operates, on behalf of the Hopi Tribe, the following enterprises: Hopi Cultural Center Restaurant & Inn on Second Mesa; Days Inn Kokopelli in the Village of Oak Creek (Sedona); the Hopi Travel Plaza off I-40 near Holbrook; Hopi 3 Canyon Ranches near Winslow, Springerville and Flagstaff; and the commercial properties of Heritage Square, Continental Plaza and Kachina Square in Flagstaff.

for more information please contact:  Clarice Tafoya, Explore Hopi Director, (928) 380-5144, ctafoya@explorehopi.com