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Chairman, Vice Chair and Senate Commerce Committee, My Name is Ron Peck, I am President and Chief Operating Officer of the Alaska Travel Industry Association. I have served in this capacity for 4.5 years. I have been employed in the visitor industry for almost 30 years. ATIA is a broad based coalition of over 1,000 visitor related businesses. We represent large and small companies including B&B’s, fishing lodges, Cruise companies, Airlines, and day tour operators. We are a trade association acting as an advocate on land use, planning, and assessment issues. ATIA is not a government agency. We are a non profit service organization. Our other main mission is promote Alaska as a premier travel destination nationally and internationally. We do this on behalf of the state of Alas through an annual contract. Prior to 2000, three distinct organizations did advocacy work, and the destination marketing for Alaska. Two of those agencies were government entities and one was a trade association. Overlap and inefficiencies existed. Funding for destination marketing fluctuated drastically, declining from a high of $15M in 1990 to $7M by 2000. A new, unique and creative plan that involved both private and public sector involvement was implemented. Essentially the three organizations were dissolved. The state reduced the Dept. Of Tourism to an office and totally eliminated the second government agency. The former trade Association also also dissolved. The idea was to consolidate, be more efficient increase effectiveness. We believe that ATIA has done just that with this unique private / public partnership. We are also pleased with the level of private sector involvement. 35 Marketing experts volunteer from the private sector to create and develop the annual marketing plan that is then approved by the SOA and implemented by ATIA staff. Again the unique part of this relationship is that we have actually reduced government staffing levels, and increased the private sector involvement at no cost to the SOA. Funding for the program is done on a 50% 50% match basis, with the state contributing up to $5M, which allows for a Core Marketing program of $10M. Because of recent additional specific taxes on the visitor industry in Alaska, the funding model may need to change but the excellent working relationship between the public and private sector will continue. The success of our concept is proven and other states such as Washington have studied the ATIA model and they are considering implementing changes to their destination marketing efforts. Addressing International Travel - We as an industry fully understand the importance of keeping our country, our borders and our citizens safe from terror and violence. From the Alaska visitor industry perspective almost 250,000 (15%) of Alaska’s of 2006 summer visitors were International arrivals with the major countries of origin being Canada, UK, German Speaking Europe, Australia, Japan and Korea. International visitors are an integral part of the traveler mix to Alaska. We as an industry need to work diligently to make our great country as inviting and visitor friendly as possible. Some specific suggestions for your consideration: - Continue to work toward simplifying the Visa application and approval process. From first hand experience I have been made aware of the exhaustive and exasperating processes and steps that are involved in obtaining a visa.
- Expand the Visa Waiver Program – and consider including a larger number of countries such as South Korea.
- Improve Customs and Border processes by hiring the additional 200 officers in the recently passed legislation by the Senate. Thanks to vice Chair Stevens and Senator Inouye for their efforts in this regard. I believe that this specific action will help \alleviate perceptions that we are not a welcoming country to our international guests
- Consider developing an International Registered Traveler Program. Other countries have developed IRT programs that work to ensure security by focusing attention on lesser known travelers. A good example for Alaska is with Japan and the business traveler volume for commercial fishing related business between Japan and Alaska.
- Establish a public – private partnership focusing on global promotion tasked to market the U.S.A. as an great place to visit. We should also focus on communicating effectively to clearly explain U.S. policies as well as marketing the U.S. as a destination. One useful communication media specific vehicle of communicating that I believe should continue enhanced is the internet. In four short years with continued refinement and improvement our TravelAlaska.com site has more than doubled in the number of unique visitors. It has definitely enhanced our ability to sell Alaska to our visitors. I believe that the web can do likewise for our future international visitors.
Similar to Alaska’s model that blends the marketing promotion expertise and flexibility of the private sector with oversight from the government, such an effort could change misconceptions of the U.S.A., and bring more international visitors to America. Thanks to the Senate Commerce committee for this opportunity to present some of Alaska’s visitor experiences.
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