Stop visitors in our tracks

 Palmer’s chamber of commerce has a great motto: “Alaska At Its Best.” While we could be reduced to fisticuffs in the Frontiersman newsroom arguing the comparative greatness of  individual communities of the Mat-Su Borough, we have to agree with a recent study that the Borough is a jewel.

Whether you think the prettiest facet of that jewel is Palmer or Houston, Talkeetna or Skwentna, Wasilla or Sutton, Big Lake or Butte, Willow or Chickaloon, or another location, the Valley shines brightly as a great tourist destination.

So why don’t visitors to Alaska know that?

According to the study by the McDowell Group, we just aren’t delivering the message in a way that quite literally stops people in their tracks. For too many visitors to the Mat-Su Valley, it’s just a burger in Palmer or a restocking stop in Wasilla as they travel the route to or from Denali National Park and perhaps Fairbanks. Many tourists never see beyond the frontage of one of the highways.

We know the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau works hard to provide information in print, radio and TV to tout the amenities of the Valley. We know local chambers, visitor bureaus and media, like the Frontiersman, do the same. So why has the Valley failed to reach the status of a “destination?”

The report says an economical way to waylay those Denali-bound travelers is to stop them at the borders of the Borough; provide kiosks or other informational facilities with maps, pamphlets and all of the information a traveler needs to be enticed to linger in the Valley. That sounds like a great idea and we urge the Borough to come up with an aggressive plan to promote the year-round recreational opportunities the area offers.

But there needs to be more. The study shows a surprising 60 percent of our tourists are Alaskans. While we are happy to entertain our fellow Alaskans as they spend their vacation dollars here, when a high percentage of Alaska’s tourists are from other states and around the world, how are we failing to entice them to fish in our lakes, visit our museums and hike or snowmachine our trails?

Many of these travelers won’t be lured to stay longer in the Valley because their plans are made many months in advance. A 2006 state tourism study, also from McDowell Group, cites data from 2001 and 2003 showing that more than three-quarters of those visitors to Alaska surveyed said they planned their trip at least four months in advance and as much as more than a year.

They booked well in advance, too. If they don’t see the Valley as a destination as they plan their dream trip, we can only hope they come back to the state when they get an eyeful as they drive through.

More than half of those surveyed got their information from a travel agent and most of the remainder from friends and relatives.

That same study showed Palmer and Wasilla combined were the destination of just 9 percent of the travelers, while Talkeetna scored 13 percent.

If travel agents hold the key to tourism, what can be done to change the message they send? What can be done to get the big tour companies to do more than stop for lunch in the Valley? That’s the challenge for all of us connected with tourism in the Valley. We urge a concerted and collective effort to meeting it.