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New Study Details Year-Round Benefits of Anchorage Tourism

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A study on the economic impacts of Anchorage’s visitor industry shows more than 1.34 million people visit in a year, spending more than $1 billion in Anchorage.
 
The study focused on out-of-state visitors who traveled to Anchorage. The report was prepared by McKinley Research and released by Visit Anchorage. The full findings are available at Anchorage.net. 
 
Visitor Volume 
 
Of Anchorage’s 1.34 million annual visitors, nearly two-thirds (63%) were air visitors, meaning they flew in and out of Anchorage and did not participate in an overnight cruise. A smaller portion (35%) were cruise passengers, while 2% were traveling by highway. Most Anchorage cruise visitors are sailing one-way, meaning they have opportunities to explore pre- or post-cruise.
 
“Visitation isn’t just about headcount, it’s about increasing length of stay, and planting the seed for a return visit,” said Julie Saupe, Visit Anchorage President & CEO. “This shouldn’t only be a once-in-a-lifetime visit. There’s so much to see and do in Anchorage.”
 
More than 20% of visitors come between October and April. And Anchorage also sees about half of its hotel room demand in fall, winter, and spring.
 
“Encouraging visitation in all seasons, particularly beyond summer, has been a part of the mission since the very beginning,” said Saupe. “Local companies have expanded year-round offerings, developed new season-specific experiences, and we also work to book meetings and conventions, which skew to non-summer months.”
 
Visitor Spending
 
The average traveler spends $815 per person in Anchorage during their trip, with purchases spread across lodging, airfare, transportation, food, activities, and shopping. Direct visitor spending totaled $1.09 billion during the study.
 
Visitors also fuel local tax collections through the hotel room tax and car and RV rental taxes in the Municipality of Anchorage. Hotel room taxes and car and RV rental taxes generated $59 million over the study period. Three quarters of those tax collections are attributed to out-of-state travelers.
 
“Visitors pay for things we enjoy as residents,” said Saupe. “These tax collections pay for city services, maintain civic infrastructure like the Dena’ina Center and Egan Center, and get reinvested in future tourism marketing and promotions – it's a win-win-win situation.”
 
Jobs
 
The visitor industry spurs 10,000 Anchorage jobs, with 6,500 people directly employed in the industry. The industry induces or is indirectly responsible for an additional 3,250 jobs, according to the study.
 
“While our main aim is to spur travel to Anchorage by visitors, we also are a great resource for residents looking to enjoy their own backyard,” said Saupe. 

New Study Details Year-Round Benefits of Anchorage Tourism

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