Q. What do you do at Visit Anchorage?
We bring business to Anchorage! Visit Anchorage’s mission is to attract and serve visitors to the Municipality of Anchorage.
Visit Anchorage, like other convention and visitor bureaus, is a nonprofit organization charged with representing a specific destination and helping the long-term development of the community through the strategic development of the visitor and meetings industries.
Visitors, residents, travel agents, tour operators, media and meeting planners contact a convention and visitors bureau to receive official destination information. As an unbiased resource, CVBs provide each of these audiences with information to help in their decision-making process.
Visit Anchorage is also a partner for local businesses, helping to educate and promote member companies.
Q. So what do you sell?
Our organization markets Anchorage. That’s our whole focus! For our members, we serve as a trusted portal that helps facilitate sales, but we don’t actually sell their products. For example, we market Anchorage as a destination to meeting planners, but the actual bookings are done by Anchorage businesses. Meetings and conventions bring millions of dollars to Anchorage in the form of visitor spending.
Through our programs, we are able to leverage our collective marketing power for the good of the city and of individual members, allowing many to make inroads into markets they wouldn’t be unable to access as individual business.
Q. Why does Visit Anchorage get to use the bed tax?
The bed tax was created to market Anchorage as a destination. Proposed in 1975, the intention of the bed tax was to create a collective Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) to attract and serve visitors to Anchorage. In effect, the visitor industry chose to tax itself to fund marketing efforts instead of looking to municipal, state or federal funds.
Q. Why does the Municipality get some of the bed tax?
In 1979, the bed tax rose from 5 to 8 percent, enabling the industry to support not only marketing Anchorage, but allowing for a contribution to the MOA general fund.
Today, the 12 percent bed tax is split three ways:
- One-third goes to MOA’s general fund;
- one-third is utilized to service the bond debt and operations of the Anchorage Convention Centers;
- and one-third supports the marketing functions of Visit Anchorage.
Visit Anchorage’s marketing efforts are supplemented by member contributions through annual dues, paid advertising opportunities and marketing program fees.
Q. How much are you getting from the bed tax this year?
Bed tax collections in 2010 were forecast to total $19.9 million, of which approximately $6.6 million was allocated to the city’s general fund. As per our contract, Visit Anchorage will receive just under that amount to reinvest in marketing and future business.
Q. What do you do with the bed tax money?
Visit Anchorage works diligently to maximize the impact of its marketing dollars. We have four departments that look to separate markets to entice convention, business and leisure travelers to our city throughout the year.
Convention and Meeting Sales & Service (CMSS)
CMSS is responsible for booking conventions and providing service to meetings while in Anchorage. The CMSS 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 that those 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)
TDS markets Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska 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 (COMM)
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. COMM 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. COMM is also responsible for advertising, graphics, branding, Web, e-communications and collateral development for the organization.
Community, Member & Visitor Relations (CMVR)
With approximately 1,100 members, Visit Anchorage represents some of the best tourism organizations in Alaska. Visit Anchorage works to connect visitors with local business and offers educational and networking opportunities to help members grow their own business. Through five Visitor Information Centers in Anchorage, dedicated volunteers and staff provide a warm welcome for visitors upon arriving in Anchorage and ensure visitors are aware of the services, amenities and attractions available in Southcentral Alaska. CMVR also sells advertising for Visit Anchorage publications and marketing products.
Q. Are you successful?
In 2010, Visit Anchorage:
- Booked $93 million in future convention business
- Secured $7.5 million in media advertising equivalency resulting in positive, global coverage
- Generated 933,000 visitors to our web properties
- Assisted hundreds of thousands of visitors at our Visitor Information Centers
- Trained nearly 3,000 outside travel agents about Anchorage, and reached 340,000 people at consumer and industry shows.
In 2010, Visit Anchorage’s efforts netted an estimated economic impact of $84 million from conventions held and $141 million in leisure travel spending. That means more than $225 million flowing into Anchorage to Alaska businesses and individuals throughout the year.
Q. What about oversight?
Visit Anchorage is guided by a volunteer board of directors from the Anchorage visitor industry. These are business people who are committed to furthering Anchorage as a visitor and meeting destination; the organization’s success has a direct impact on their individual business or organization. Directors represent 10 membership categories and are elected by their peers – the member businesses of Visit Anchorage.
In addition to membership elected directors, two directors are drawn from the Anchorage Assembly and one from the mayor’s office. All three are voting members. Visit Anchorage provides monthly reports to the board, quarterly reports to the Municipality of Anchorage and an annual Report to the Community that is open to the public.
Q. Why should we invest in tourism marketing?
Destination marketing is a very competitive business. Visit Anchorage’s efforts keep our city top-of-mind with the traveling public, infusing much-needed visitor dollars into our community. These dollars allow for year-round employment, generate revenue for more than 1,000 local businesses and keep our quality-of-life high by making it profitable for restaurants and entertainment options to remain open throughout the year, benefitting residents.
