Tourism outlook positive for Valley

Last month, I chaired my first meeting of the 2012-13 Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) marketing committee. I was appointed chair by the ATIA board of directors in October. I share co-chair responsibilities with Kathy Dunn from the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. The marketing committee includes 30 members of the ATIA board of directors and appointed travel industry leaders. The mission of the committee is to develop a comprehensive tourism marketing plan to generate awareness and interest in travel to Alaska.

The two-day meeting began with a number of reports on the current status of the Alaska visitor industry, followed by research on future travel trends. Visitor volume numbers for summer 2012 were reported by the Department of Commerce: total summer visitors 1,586,600 (an increase of 2 percent over 2011); cruise passengers represented 59 percent, air 37 percent and highway/ferry 4 percent. Cruise passenger traffic increased 6 percent over 2011, but the really worthy news was the increase in land tour volume was up 7 percent after several years of decline.

The international visitor volume we know has increased significantly with the nonstop flights on Condor, Korean Air and Japan Airlines. A new nonstop service on Icelandair begins in May. International air indicators are hard to determine because many will fly domestically to other gateways such as Seattle, San Francisco or Los Angeles before they board an international flight.

Another research report the ATIA contracts is the 2013 Alaska Travel Intentions, which determines the likelihood of travel to Alaska in 2013 and what factors increase or decrease their intentions. The phone survey of 600 current and past year inquirers of an Alaska Vacation Planner was conducted the first week of December. The results were 13 percent said they “definitely will go” and 35 percent “probably will go.” Other questions were asked about whether they had finalized travel plans and what type of vacation they will most likely take to Alaska (package tour or independent.) In summary, the travel intentions survey compared favorably to previous years reported.

On a national level, reports indicate we have reason to be cautiously optimistic about the travel industry. The economy is improving and the tourism sector was one of the first to improve. Leisure travel has recovered to the 2008 high levels. Total expenditures have nearly recovered to 2008 levels at 95 percent. The biggest trend is that international inbound travel is projected to continue to outperform domestic travel, due to improved visa wait times and border entry visitor experiences.

If you are still with me, the really good news is the governor included $16 million in his FY14 budget for tourism marketing. Along with private industry funds, the total tourism budget would be more than $18 million. Well above the lean years of a decade ago, this is a competitive destination campaign.

The five subcommittees of the marketing committee (advertising, public relations, website, travel trade and international) will develop a marketing plan between now and March to submit to the Department of Commerce that will encourage travel to Alaska and create awareness and interest in Alaska. As a member and chair of this committee, the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau will benefit from contributing and participating in the process.

Bonnie Quill (bonnie@alaskavisit.com) is executive director of the Mat-Su CVB.