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Please feel free to cut & paste any of these talking points in your e-mail notes to legislators. Use the information that has the most meaning to you. Also be sure to add personal stories or information. Legislators receive large quantities of mass produced e-mail with identical content and they tend to disregard it. Your e-mail will be most effective if they know a "real person" is sending a personal note about how this legislation effects their businesses and livelihood.
The Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) has consistently argued that the State's Tourism Marketing programs are essential to insure the visitor industry remains a strong, vibrant and growing sector of Alaska's economy. ATIA was established in 1999 and has accomplished a great deal in marketing Alaska as a destination for both domestic and international travelers.
Alaska now ranks 38th among the 50 states in public sector funding for tourism. We have rapidly lost much of our voice in the marketplace, while other states (and even many cities) as well as competing international destinations continually increase their investments in promotion. With current levels of funding for visitor marketing, Alaska's visibility in our extremely competitive industry will continue to decline.
Research indicates that in the last six years alone, the percent of US adults who are identified as "high-potential" Alaska visitors has declined from 11% to 9%. Additional marketing dollars are needed to counteract this decline. We need to increase awareness of Alaska as a desirable destination to increase the "pool" of potential future visitors.
Alaska has not only lost ground against competing destinations, but in the costs associated with our marketing efforts. Postage, TV airtime, magazine ad space and even the simple cost of the paper to produce the vacation planner have more than doubled since 1990 - in that same time span the State's contribution to marketing has dropped from over $14 million (over 22 million in 2006 dollars) to only $5 million last year. Simply put, Alaska's marketing budget (a combined $10 million last year) buys only a fraction of what it used to.
Since starting up in 1999, ATIA's financial participation in Alaska's tourism marketing program has grown from $2 million to over $5 million. The state's participation has dropped from over $15 million in the early 90s to $5 million in FY06. No other state has been as successful in raising marketing funds through voluntary private-sector contributions.
ATIA raised over $5 million in marketing funds in FY07. The State's operating budget reached parity with the industry at $5 million each. However, taxes targeted at the industry will increase again this year and it is unrealistic to expect the same level of voluntary participation by heavily taxed sectors of the industry - therefore ATIA expects to reach only $2 million in funds from our cooperative marketing programs. Some of the additional taxes received by the State in the next fiscal year should be re-invested to replace lost voluntary marketing contributions.
Tourism is not a drain on the State's resources. In fact, a 2006 report by the State's Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development showed that Tourism had a net benefit to the State's coffers of $20 million in FY05 - nearly as much as the combined net benefit of the Timber, Mining and Commercial Fishing industries.
Alaska's visitor industry continues to be one of the state's largest employers and one of the bright spots in Alaska's economy during the past decade. The latest statistics from the Alaska Department of Labor show almost 40,000 annual jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector, more than 13% of the state's total job force. The industry represents $1.15 Billion in wages & benefits to Alaskan workers.
Alaska’s visitor industry is also an important economic engine that reaches out to many other industries and creates even more jobs for Alaskans. When you add in retail trade, transportation and service jobs, anyone can see why the tourism industry is so important to Alaska's economy.
Tourism invests millions of dollars each year in capital purchases that play a key role in Alaska's economy, including construction projects, operating equipment, vehicles and other infrastructure expenditures. For example in 2002 the industry spent over $470 million on construction projects alone.
For those who complain that tourism marketing is only for big business, they should look at ATIA's membership list. The majority of ATIA members have five or fewer employees. Over 90% have fewer than 50 employees. Most ATIA members join in order to participate in our affordable cooperative marketing programs.
Because of the inherent costs of marketing to national and international audiences, small businesses would find it impractical to reach these markets without the group buying power of ATIA's cooperative marketing programs.
If it wasn't for these programs, most Alaskan tourism businesses wouldn't be able to afford to reach national and international audiences and a vibrant sector of our industry would be endangered.
Conservative estimates are that the travel and tourism industry contributed $49 million to the State's coffers in FY05. Passage of the Cruise Ship Ballot Initiative may increase that contribution to over $130 million in revenues to the State's coffers
in coming years. On the local level the industry contributed almost $29 million in lodging taxes in 2006 - funding critical to many Alaska communities.
ATIA's request for the State to appropriate $18 million to fund a Statewide Tourism Marketing program will be matched by $2 million generated from the industry in cooperative marketing programs to achieve a $20 million marketing campaign. The state's re-investment, even at $18 million, will be a fraction of the conservatively estimated $130 million the State will receive in revenues.
ATIA also urges the legislature to follow through on the original intent of the legislation that established the statewide vehicle rental tax, by depositing vehicle rental tax collections into a separate account and reinvesting 100% of the revenues (estimated at $8.5 million in FY08) toward the funding of a separate marketing campaign targeting independent travelers most affected by this tax.
We understand the hard decisions facing the legislature as they plan each year's budget. However, as legislators consider the budget for Alaska's Tourism Marketing program we hope they'll keep in mind that this is an investment in Alaska's most vibrant and growing economic sector - and unlike many other sectors, one that is growing and contributes to the State's coffers.
WHERE DOES ALASKA RANK IN PUBLIC SECTOR TOURISM FUNDING?
- In 2005 we ranked 38th in public sector funding for Tourism Marketing. That year, 25 states spent more than double Alaska's public sector funding.
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