Serious fun

PALMER — Of all the industries leveled by the state’s recent budget crises, maybe none has been hit as hard as the tourism industry.

Heading into these uncertain times, the Alaska Travel Industry Association held its annual convention Monday through Thursday, and spent the better part of Wednesday night at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer.

Taking a train from Anchorage, the more than 700 attendees from tourism operations around the state, landed at the fairgrounds for a party complete with DJ, games, food, drink and a goat milking contest at Raven Hall.

“It’s a celebration of the tourism committee with owners and managers from all over the state,” said attendee Cole Chambers. “Everyone is coming out to celebrate a great tourism season.”

Whether next year’s convention is as festive, given the massive cut in state funding for tourism, remains to be seen.

“We’re a hardy group,” Chambers said. “(Budget cuts) have been a big topic at the convention and the board of directors had a Q and A for what to do as an industry, and we’ll have a decision soon.”

Rob Holston, who runs Lighthouse Excursions, a three-hour boat ride out of Ketchikan, linked heavily to cruise ship traffic, came dressed as Captain Obvious from the Hotels.com commercials — and he wasn’t the only in that costume.

He said that for the tourism industry to weather the coming storm, the solution is, well, obvious.

“Alaska tourism has taken a huge hit because of the state’s economic crisis. We’ve gone from $15 million down to 1.5 million and the biggest challenge is how to make up that difference so we can stay competitive with the rest of the world,” Holston said. “We need to form an improvement district statewide. If a community needs a new sewer system, they form an improvement district. For tourism, to get funds just for promotion, we need to do it the same way you’d get funds for a water system in a district.”

Holston added that tourism-related taxes may have to be in the equation, as well.

“We took like a 90 percent hit. I mean, you can’t survive in that kind of environment,” he said. “We have to come up with alternative means, a way for the industry to support itself. Self-imposed taxation — but no one likes to hear the word ‘taxes’, so it’s an ‘assessment fee.’”

For Dean Phipps, marketing and communications director for the fair, the convention stop was a welcome reason to turn on the lights, contact local caterers, and bring in some goats on an otherwise quiet Tuesday night in October.

“We’re members of ATIA… They called us and said they wanted to do a community night as part of the ATIA and wanted to get out of town and do something fun,” Phipps said. “We hope they have a good time and go back with a story that this was a fun place to be and we had a good time, so whenever it comes time for another event — whether it’s Scottish Games or the Fair or something like that — they come back down from Fairbanks or wherever.”