Visitor season good time to put best foot forward

This editorial originally appeared in the Friday edition of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

With growing crowds at the airport and motor coaches rumbling through town, the 2014 visitor season is under way. During the next few months, hundreds of thousands of vacationers from Outside will stream through the Golden Heart City, enjoying a small piece of the midnight sun we’ve waited all winter to see.

Tourism, especially in the summer, is a big part of the Interior’s economic engine. The throngs of visitors provide a big boost of funds flowing into Fairbanks and other local communities — $317 million, according to a 2013 study by the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.

The benefits to locals come not only in dollars spent but also in jobs — 7,100 people in the Interior, or about 10 percent of the workforce, have jobs related to the visitor industry. This summertime job boost is especially meaningful for the young people of the state, many of whom will get their first job working either directly in the visitor industry or with a business catering to the influx of tourists from Outside.

Another benefit people might not consider? The much more reasonable summer airfare to various parts of the U.S. as well as countries around the world, as carriers fly seasonal routes into town and drive ticket prices lower.

In places like Anchorage or Southeast, it’s pretty clear what all those people are coming to see. The Inside Passage has gorgeous views and plenty of sea life, while Anchorage touts its reputation for breathtaking mountain scenery surrounding the state’s largest city.

In Fairbanks and other Interior communities, we have things like gold rush history and a few local hot springs, but it’s more difficult to point to something specific and say, “this is why people come, and this is why they keep coming.”

But there is a clear reason, and many visitors who have spent time here will attest to it if asked: it’s us.

Fairbanks and the Interior in general may not have the benefit of mountains at our doorstep or whales jumping over the Cushman Street bridge, but what we do have is a sense of community and good-natured openness lost in many parts of the country — and even some parts of Alaska.

Walking along the river in downtown Fairbanks, you’ll get a “hello” and a wave from most of the people you pass — do the same in New York City, and only a few people out of the throng will even meet your gaze. In an age where we feel increasingly isolated, that moment of connection while passing can make more difference than we realize.

Incidentally, this community ethic isn’t just a consideration for attracting those taking summer vacations. When large-scale events like the Alaska Federation of Natives convention or the Arctic Winter Games come to the Interior, organizers almost invariably cite the warm welcome they get here as a reason they decided to come — and the reason why they come back.

So this summer, as you see tour buses around town, give a wave as they go by, extending all five fingers instead of the single digit visitors might be more accustomed to on their freeways back home. If we’re going to be known for our hospitality and good nature, it’s a reputation we need to keep earning — and it’s one that will benefit us even when the visitors have all gone home.