Departments

Visit Anchorage has more than 30 employees, more than 50 volunteers and registration assistants, and approximately 700 member businesses. Each department works to attract and serve visitors to Anchorage in a different way.

Convention and Meeting Sales & Service

CMSS is responsible for booking conventions and providing service to meetings while in Anchorage. The department staff works to attract meetings, conventions, and trade shows to Anchorage through a variety of sales activities. The sales staff educates meeting planners and association leaders about Anchorage’s convention centers and hotels, works to boost the number of attendees once a meeting is booked, and ensures delegates know all there is to see and do once they arrive in Anchorage. In addition to conventions, the department focuses on incentive groups and increasing visitation during major events.

Tourism Development & Sales

TDS markets Anchorage to travel agents and tour operators as a leisure destination through direct sales and destination training. When travel professionals know what Alaska has to offer, they pass that information on to clients, generating new visitors for Anchorage, increasing the number of Alaska tours and trips offered and building their own business at the same time. Visit Anchorage meets with travel professionals to supply the latest travel news on Anchorage and connect them with Alaska business partners. TDS also works in concert with state and local community partners to attract more air service and additional cruise ships to Anchorage and Alaska.

Communications

If you see Anchorage in the travel section of a national publication, on screen or in ads, odds are Visit Anchorage played a part in it. This department works to inform national and international media outlets of new tours, attractions and businesses in Anchorage, and pitches story ideas for possible coverage. The Communications department produces several high-quality publications, including the Official Guide to Anchorage and Local Flavor Restaurant and Entertainment Guide. The department maintains social media presences to foster a dialogue between potential visitors, businesses and Visit Anchorage. Communications is also responsible for advertising, graphics, branding, web, e-communications and collateral development for the organization.

Destination Services

Destination Services works with the visitor industry, visitors in the destination, and residents, ensuring that the travel experience meets expectations and desires, and in turn that the community realizes the broadest possible economic and social benefits from visitation. The department is responsible for helping travelers in the community’s Visitor Information Centers, local tourism businesses through membership services, industry advocacy, advertising sales for Visit Anchorage publications and web properties, and educational and networking events for businesses and locals to ensure visitors are welcomed to Anchorage. Destination Services views the community through the eyes of a visitor to identify needs for Anchorage’s tourism industry, and ensures the community continues to develop, grow, and thrive through tourism.

President’s Office

The President’s Office consists of the President & CEO, human resources, accounting and an executive assistant. The president works directly with the Board of Directors, staff, and businesses, and oversees the entire operation of the organization.

The guiding principles and objectives that the president considers while conducting the day-to-day operations are Visit Anchorage's mission statement, the goals outlined in the annual plan, and the execution of the plan developed with and approved by the Board of Directors.

The president serves as Visit Anchorage's corporate officer and is the primary contact for many organizations and the Anchorage-based visitor industry in destination marketing and political advocacy, statewide and nationally. Through Visit Anchorage, members and the community are able to leverage resources with public and privately funded travel-related programs and initiatives.