Assembly candidates talk tourism at MSCVB forum

From Rindi White in Wasilla:

WASILLA – After a summer where Alaskans shared roads and restaurants with a lot fewer tourists, candidates for local offices last week offered their take on the tourist season and suggestions for improvement.
A forum for Mat-Su Assembly and mayoral candidates Friday kicked off the most active part of what has so far been a quiet local election race. Voters will be casting ballots for three Assembly seats and the borough mayor on October 6. City elections in Wasilla, Palmer and Houston are also scheduled for that day.
Speaking to an audience of bed-and-breakfast operators, tour guides and other members of forum host Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau, candidates shared their outlook on what, by most accounts, has been a slow summer tourism season.
“What I’m hearing right now from operators is that May was slow but September is coming in pretty good,” said Jim Colver, a surveyor from Palmer. Colver said he was hopeful more European tourists would journey to Alaska while the US dollar remains weak.
Colver said investing in roads, trailheads and better state park amenities are the best ways to boost the time independent travelers spend in the Valley.
His opponent disagreed.
“I talked with a number of people involved in tourism this year who said they were down 20, 30, even 40 percent … I don’t see a recovery next year – it’ll probably drop off some more. (At my store) I see the locals, spending their money more carefully,” said Jim Turner, owner of Turner’s Corner at Hatcher Pass.
Turner said he anticipates having to lay off two or three employees to make ends meet. He encouraged business owners to stick with “tried and true methods” to weather the economic storm. He said paving the road over Hatcher Pass is the project he believed would have the most positive effect on Valley tourism.
Robert Wells, a part-owner of Valley milk-seller Matanuska Creamery, said the creamery sold “more ice cream to Princess Tours than expected this year.” He cited other positive figures, such increased use of Alaska State Parks, and said the tourism group had done a good job marketing to Alaskans.
Wells said infrastructure such as roads and rest stops are needed to boost tourism here. But preserving Mat-Su fisheries should be a primary focus, he said. Fishing visits to Valley streams were down this year when fewer king salmon returned than expected and state officials closed some streams to fishing.
Turner, Wells and Colver are vying to represent the Fishhook-Hatcher Pass district on the Mat-Su Assembly.
Musher and kennel tour operator Vern Halter said he believes the state should do more to boost tourism during the down economy. Halter and Willow businessman Doyle Holmes are competing to represent the Susitna Valley district on the Assembly.
Halter said he’s heard tourism in Mat-Su is down by nearly 8.5 percent – less than other areas that are more dependent on cruise ship visitors. The way out, he said, is advertising.
“Sometimes when things are down, you have to market a little heavier,” Halter said. He suggested that state legislators should boost its support for the Alaska Travel Industry Association by as much as doubling its budget.
According to its Web site, the tourism trade association received about $9 million in state funding this year but “an effective marketing plan requires an annual marketing budget of $20 million or more.”
Holmes said creativity by business owners and relaxed governmental regulations are the best ways to help businesses to hang on during tough times. He also touted keeping advertising and marketing budgets the same through this rough patch.
“If nothing else, give them (Outside tourists) some money to come up here,” Holmes said.
John Leiner, a Palmer farmer running for Mat-Su mayor, said promoting big projects, such as the Knik-Arm Bridge crossing between Anchorage and Point MacKenzie, might help the tourism industry through hard times.
“There’s a lot of people who come to Anchorage, they look at it and say ‘it’s so big, this is not what we came to Alaska for.’ By developing Point MacKenzie more, it would be a good marketing tool,” he said.
Sitting mayor Talis Colberg was not able to attend the forum. Two other Assembly candidates – Ron Arvin and Michelle Church – were also absent from the forum.