LETTER: Supporting Mat-Su CVB is important

To the editor:

At the Musk Ox Farm, we wear many different hats. We have to be tour guides, farmers, marketers, groomers and even “match makers” to our herd of animals. It’s a big job, and wearing so many hats every day can spread you pretty thin. That’s why our partnership with the Mat-Su Convention & Visitors Bureau has been so important.

Partnering with the Mat-Su CVB has helped contribute to the success of our non-profit. Their reach in marketing the Mat-Su Valley is far greater than what I can do alone, and our farm benefits from their many marketing programs.

Every summer, the Mat-Su CVB brings tour operators, travel agents and travel media to the farm on familiarization trips. These are important because it gets the word out about the Musk Ox Farm to decision makers, tour purchasers and the general public through stories on travel blogs, magazines and more. I’m thankful the Mat-Su CVB has included the Musk Ox Farm on some of these familiarization trips because it has generated us future business.

The Mat-Su CVB generates awareness of our area not only through working with tour operators and travel media, they also do a great job of marketing to local Alaskans, which is important because it’s a big part of our business. The Mat-Su Valley is a great destination for Alaskans on a “staycation” and the Mat-Su CVB realizes that. The awareness they generate throughout Alaska and beyond helps our non-profit.

Because we’re a non-profit, we have a very limited marketing budget. I’m guessing the same thing holds true for many of the bed and breakfasts and smaller, family-run tour businesses around the Valley. Through our partnership with the Mat-Su CVB, however, my marketing budgets gets amplified because of their efforts.

Here at the Musk Ox Farm, we’re thankful the Mat-Su CVB takes on the responsibility of marketing the Valley for the Mat-Su Borough. As we grow bed tax revenue and reinvest it into destination marketing, it allows the Mat-Su CVB’s message to get louder and louder, which in turn means more visitors, and ultimately, more business for us all. It’s a sustainable way to help our economy thrive.

Mark Austin is the executive director of the Palmer Musk Ox Farm