Web site a ‘Best Idea’

MAT-SU — Some good ideas are emphasized with cartoons, comics, light bulbs and thought bubbles. In the Mat-Su Valley, the best idea has sparked a regional award.

The Mat -Su Convention and Visitors Bureau recently earned a one of six “Best Idea” awards from the Western Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (WACVB) for its work with the Mat-Su Online Vacancy Report Web site. The Mat-Su CVB received the award at the WACVB convention Oct. 11 at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage.

“We are just really pleased that we were recognized by the WACVB,” said Bonnie Quill, executive director of the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Originally created in 2000 by the Mat-Su Bed and Breakfast Association, the Web site functions as an interactive database where lodging businesses post vacancies based on the next five days of availability, Quill said. In a nutshell, the site provides information needed for last-minute travelers to find accommodations in the Valley.

Start-up funding was provided by the Tourism Infrastructure Grant Program — a program that collects money from bed taxes, she said. In 2000, the grant provided $10,000 to initiate the project and in 2001 another $5,000 was added to fund the Web site. The Mat-Su CVB joined as a funding and promoting entity in 2003, committing about $4,000 a year to maintain and market the site.

The Mat-Su Online Vacancy Report competed against 30 other projects from cities across the West, Quill said. Although some cities spent more money on their projects than the Mat-Su CBV has in its annual operating budget, Quill believes innovation and partnership are qualities that helped secure the award for the local bureau.

Teresa Stephenson, executive director of the WACVB, said the Best Idea program has been a part of operations for almost 20 years and serves several valuable purposes.

“The objective of the Best Idea program is to share innovative techniques or imaginative approaches to promoting one’s destination, managing one’s organization, providing services and communicating with stakeholders,” Stephenson said.

Karen Harris, marketing chair for the Mat-Su Bed and Breakfast Association, said her organization also reserves a portion of its marketing budget for the site. With the bed and breakfast association and the CVB providing financial support, the partnership will allow the site to grow.

“The program upgrades we’re working on right now will put up vacancies two years in advance,” Harris said.

The association created the Web site with last-minute travelers in mind, but Harris said its future is moving toward being an all-inclusive hospitality site.