ATIA’s Mission:
Develop Alaska’s travel resource for the maximum benefit of Alaskans ---- creating jobs for Alaskans, strengthening Alaskan families and generating additional revenue for Alaska.
ATIA Calls on the State of Alaska to Create a Sustainable, Long-Term Tourism Marketing Fund. Critical Components Include:
1. Reinvest a minimum of $20 million from existing travel industry paid taxes & fees back into Alaska's tourism marketing program.
Rationale:
- Alaska, as a very long-haul destination in an increasingly competitive global travel marketplace, requires a $20 million tourism marketing budget to even begin to compete successfully and bring Alaska's travel resource to market.
- Competing long-haul destinations currently spend much more --- Hawaii ($88 million), Australia ($153 million), Las Vegas ($160 million), New Zealand ($73 million).
2. The sources of the State's reinvestment in Alaska's tourism marketing program should be clearly identifiable as existing travel industry generated revenues collected by the State.
Rationale:
- To ensure the long-term sustainability of this resource development initiative, it makes sense that Alaska's travel industry be expected to create the new wealth required to fund a tourism marketing budget that grows over time.
- $111 Million of visitor industry taxes and fees are paid to the State of Alaska (FY12 projected)
- $69 Million of visitor industry taxes are paid to Municipalities throughout Alaska (FY12 projected)
3. The model should contain a growth mechanism that ensures Alaska's tourism marketing budget will grow over time at a rate proportionate to the growth of Alaska's travel industry.
Rationale:
- A growing Alaska travel industry will require a growing tourism marketing budget to support it.
- Sustained marketing allows for improved strategy and creates efficiencies within the program.
- Long-term marketing increases annual conversion (this is similar to other compound returns on investment)
- A long-term, stable marketing program creates a positive business environment for the private sector and drives increased capital investment.