Visitors from many areas have long been drawn to Phoenix's dry, sunny climate and its year-round warm weather, making tourism one of the city's top sources of income and the state's second-largest source of employment. Phoenix receives almost ten million visitors a year from the United States and Canada. Visits by Japanese tourists were
Phoenix hosts the Arizona Stock Show and Rodeo every January. ()
boosted with the introduction of direct flights to and from Tokyo in 1991, and European tourism was increased when direct flights to and from London were started in 1996. The city has 83 hotels and resorts, with a total of 21,272 rooms. Phoenix has become an increasingly popular convention site in the past two decades, with convention attendees accounting for almost 40 percent of all visitors to the city. With a total seating capacity of more than 29,000, the 31,586-square-meter (340,00-square-foot) Civic Plaza and Convention Center is Phoenix's major convention facility. Other convention venues include Veterans Memorial Coliseum at Arizona State University.
