Homer Alaska - Business

I've spent my entire career in the travel industry, so I take its health and viability seriously. And right now I'm not optimistic.

In 2009, visitation to Alaska was down by 85,000 people and in 2010, we know it will be down at least another 140,000 cruise ship visitors (several cruise companies announced months ago that they would be redeploying their ships to other parts of the world).

That's a loss of more than 200,000 visitors in two years and brings us back to pre-2005 levels of overall visitation; 2010 is predicted to see somewhere between 1.5 million and 1.6 million visitors.

The raw numbers aren't the whole story. Those who do come are expected to take shorter trips and spend less money.

So what can we do?

Marketing more in bad times is a well-accepted idea in marketing circles. Another state dependent on Lower 48 visitors, Hawaii, has increased its tourism marketing budget and is now outspending Alaska 8 to 1.

Last summer, there was a documentable trend toward what became known as "staycations" — essentially taking vacations closer to home, exploring nearby state and national parks, and generally not traveling far or spending much money.

We are in an extremely competitive environment and it is more critical than ever that we show potential visitors what Alaska has to offer.

How do we do it?

We invest more in a broad-based, research-backed marketing program to make sure people who are interested in Alaska can easily connect with the people and companies to help plan their trips and show them options.

But we as an industry also are working to make Alaska's regulatory and tax environment friendlier.

We'd like to see travel industry companies receive a tourism corporate tax credit that can be applied to tourism marketing conducted by the Alaska Travel Industry Association on behalf of the state (House Bill 167 and Senate Bill 138).

We've been working closely with Alaska legislators on revisions to a 2006 ballot initiative that imposed a $46 head tax on cruise visitors and made Alaska's waste-water discharge rules the most stringent in the world.

As an industry, we obviously believe in protecting Alaska's clean, pristine environment — that's why visitors come to Alaska and our livelihoods depend on it. But we must strike a balance between responsible regulation, taxation and a framework that keeps Alaskans employed.

We're also concerned that the cruise industry as a whole is going to be less interested in operating in Alaska in the wake of the wastewater discharge requirements included in the 2006 ballot measure.

Few people realize that these new requirements mean wastewater must be cleaner than tap water. These standards vastly exceed what any community in Alaska (including along the Inside Passage, where the majority of cruise ships operate) releases into our waters 365 days a year.

With refinements to the ballot measure and more tourism marketing dollars, we can bring more visitors and their money to Alaska. We have the knowledge and research to convert more potential travelers into actual visitors if we can get the funding to reach them through the mail, on television, in major consumer publications and online.

Several airlines have recently announced new flights and gateways to Alaska, which is certainly great news for Alaskans and potential visitors. More flights in a down economy generally result in lower fares.

This new service represents a huge opportunity to reach potential travelers and convince them to come. Additional marketing money would be a huge help.

Tourism is one of Alaska's largest private-sector employers and a major force in our state's economy. If we are to continue to ride out this global economic crisis relatively unscathed, we must ensure businesses can continue to create jobs and bring money and opportunity to our communities. Alaska's travel industry needs your support.

Ron Peck is president and chief operating officer of the Alaska Travel Industry Association.