Tourism growth in Prince William Sound ‘slow but steady’

TONY TURRINI

May 02, 2008 at 10:15AM AKST

For The Cordova Times

A study by Ecosystems, an Anchorage economic consulting firm, found that tourism – along with tourism-related employment and earnings – is slowly but steadily growing in Prince William Sound.

The National Wildlife Federation funded the study, entitled "Prince William Sound Tourism Economic Indicators."

"We are encouraging the growth of sustainable tourism in Prince William Sound. If planned right, tourism can help the economy while preserving our quality of life and the natural environment," says Jim Adams, director of NWF’s Alaska office.

"This is the first of what we hope will be annual reports allowing us to monitor tourism and document its benefits to the region."

The study notes that there are no direct economic measures for tourism. It relies on various indirect indicators such as bed, rental car, and sales taxes, business licenses and employment in the hospitality and leisure sector to identify tourism trends.

According to the study, "Collectively these (indicators) provide measures of the movement of people in and out of the region and employment and income related to resident and non-resident travel."

In good news for Prince William Sound, the bed and other special taxes collected between 2000 and 2006 increased by $601,666, or 23 percent.

During the same period, total wages in the hospitality and leisure sector increased by $1.5 million, or 24 percent.

Cordova, Valdez and Whittier all saw an increase in tourism-related business licenses between 2000 and 2006, while license numbers stayed roughly the same in Chenega Bay and Tatitlek.

Not all the tourism economic indicators were so rosy. Adams noted that ferry and highway travel to Alaska declined between 2000 and 2006, while cruise ship numbers increased.

"This is an important trend because ferry and highway travelers are frequent visitors to Prince William Sound, and they tend to stay longer and spend more money in our communities than other visitors," the foundation reported.

While the study suggests that the number of ferry and highway travelers continues to increase in Prince William Sound, Alaska’s tourism marketing program needs to do a better job of attracting independent travelers to the state as a whole."

The National Wildlife Federation is the nation’s largest conservation-education organization.

Tony Turrini is with the National Wildlife Federation Alaska Natural Resource Center in Anchorage.