ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
Anchorage has seen a wave of tourism this year. Businesses say it seems the rain kept locals away from downtown, but drove tourists out of the weather and into their stores and restaurants.The Alaska Cake Studio finds people are driven more by their stomachs than the economy or personal finance.
“Why do you think people keep coming back? Because it’s delicious and it’s fresh,” said Alaska Cake Studio owner Melinda Hobbs.
It's the bakery's first summer and they say it looks like business was better than the gloomy outlook projected earlier in the year.
“I think it went really well. It seemed like the rainy days were actually good days for us because people wanted to get off the sidewalk and stay warm and get a nice cup of coffee and a good pastry,” said Hobbs.
The Visitors Bureau forecasted tourism would fall about 10 percent, because two cruise ships pulled out of south central Alaska, bound for other ports around the world, but hotel occupancy actually grew seven percent in Anchorage and overall retail sales went up.
“There was a lot more lift coming into Anchorage than there has been before. From hub cities like Philadelphia and that drove independent travelers and it made airline ticket pricing a little less and it helped make the decision to come up a little easier,” said David Kesser, Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Tourists who travel on airlines usually spend more because they stay in local hotels, rent cars, and buy tour packages separately -- which costs more.
While cruise ship passengers spend most of their money on the ship and don't have a lot of time to spend at each port.
Because more people stayed overnight in Anchorage, tourists end up spending all their money in one place -- downtown.
Lauren Patrick, of Octopus Ink, a local clothing store and art gallery, says tourist are willing to spend a little more on souvenirs, but they seem to be more conscientious of what they buy.
“For sales it's been pretty good. We've had a really successful summer. We had the store open and also a booth down at the Saturday Market and between the two we had a really hard time keeping shirts stocked just because of the demand for a lot of them,” said Patrick.
People want something uniquely Alaskan and are willing to shop around for a deal.
As travelers get ready to fly back home after the holiday weekend, vendors are already packing up for the end of the season and both are a little more confident about the year ahead.
Although tourism is up, the number of tourists hasn't remained steady all summer. There were several valleys early in the year and peaks when the Port of Call cruise ship came into Anchorage.
The Anchorage Visitors Bureau expects things to only get better. There aren't any hard numbers yet, but they say this year's turn in the economy should pave the way for another good year.
Contact Ashton Goodell at agoodell@ktuu.com
