Winter tourism rises

While Alaskans are enjoying all that summer has to offer, those in the tourism industry got great news about winter recently.

The McDowell Group recently released its findings of visitation numbers to Alaska during the fall/winter season for 2013-2014, as part of the Alaska Visitors Statistics Program. During the last winter season, Alaska’s visitation numbers rose by 4 percent, a great sign for the tourism industry that relies so heavily on summer visitation.

The largest increase was international visitors, and that’s another welcomed finding because our international visitors tend to stay longer and spend more per day than visitors from the U.S.

Nearly 258,000 visitors arrived in Alaska from the beginning of October through the end of April. While it doesn’t rival the 1.7 million visitors who come in the summer, it is a good sign that Alaska is becoming more of a winter destination in travelers’ minds. Many people who visit in the summer say they would like to experience Alaska in the winter, and events like the Iditarod in the Mat-Su Valley, Fur Rondy in Anchorage and the World Ice Carving Championships in Fairbanks give them reasons to plan trips, along with traditional winter activities like viewing the aurora borealis.

In the tourism industry, we don’t see winter as a “challenge.” We see it as an “opportunity.” One local business, Alaska Backcountry Adventure Tours, based in Palmer, has met this opportunity head on, increasing sales and growing for the last several winters. Other businesses are in the same situation — the winter trains going to Talkeetna have been so successful that last spring, the Alaska Railroad added a train outside of the traditional weekend-only service, and is hoping to do the same thing again this season.

New infrastructure has the Mat-Su poised to take advantage of this opportunity. Hatcher Pass is a big draw for visitors in the winter as well as in the summer, and the new chalet and ski trails at Government Peak are great additions. This new infrastructure will help support local bed and breakfasts during a time when they traditionally haven’t been as busy as the summer months. It also helps attract visitors to local stores and restaurants, giving an economic boost that stays in our community.

Last October, the Mat-Su CVB held a winter tourism summit in Talkeetna, and more than 50 business owners and employees attended. The findings then were presented at a statewide winter tourism summit in Sitka, as part of the Alaska Travel Industry Association’s state convention. There is no doubt that growing winter tourism is a focus not only locally, but on a statewide basis as well.

An increased push in marketing Alaska as a winter destination is paying dividends, based on the McDowell findings, but it’s important to note that just because we’ve seen increases recently, we can’t stop now. Marketing is vital in keeping Alaska competitive among other destinations – both for winter and summer visitors alike.

Casey Ressler (casey@alaskavisit.com) is the marketing and communications manager at the Mat-Su CVB.