Carl Johnson Photography

Visit Anchorage Annual Report

2024 In Review

Tourism is one of the pillars of Anchorage's economy, and a key to enhancing the quality of life in our community.​​ By the big-communitywide measurements, Anchorage saw solid year-over-year gains in 2024.​

Air travel was up 3.6% year over year, with the volume for non-summer months growing faster, up 5%. The measure is taken at TSA checkpoints, and so includes Anchorage residents and other Alaskans, but it is a sign of the overall health of travel​. ​Cruise capacity into the Southcentral ports of Seward, Whittier and Anchorage held strong, cruise in Alaska saw growth in 2024 and Visit Anchorage anticipates growth in 2025 and beyond, with new brands coming into the Alaska market.​

​Traveler spending increased 13% year over year, totaling more than $909 million in Anchorage as reported by VisaVue. This impressive number, nearly a billion dollars, is also a very conservative estimate, since it only captures spending with Visa cards and only purchases made while in Anchorage. So significantly, it does not include advance bookings and purchases. It is only a portion of actual travel spending in and for Anchorage. The average anchorage visitor spends between $900 and $1,500 in Anchorage during their visit.

Leisure and hospitality jobs grew in 2024 for in Anchorage, and are completely recovered above 2019 levels. Tourism is one of the best rates of growth in employment for Anchorage in the year, with only constructions job growth bigger. BLS data shows that wages are up for Leisure & Hospitality significantly, sign of both added jobs and the competitive rate of pay.​

A stated traveler desire for Alaska's type of products, experiences, and offerings, and - particularly encouraging - stated interest and intent to travel for Alaska and Anchorage specifically all bolstered returns from tourism. The community's marketing and promotions efforts before domestic and leisure travelers continue to drive demand through a diverse array of advertising, sales, and earned media efforts. As a result, in 2024, Anchorage saw:

  • More than $36.1 million in MOA tax collections from travel and tourism going to the general fund. This includes one third of hotel bed tax collections, all local car and RV rental taxes and local property taxes paid by hotels. It does not include local property taxes paid by other industry businesses, licensing fees, or state level tax collections related to tourism.
  • $118 million in direct economic spending in the community from meetings, events, and conventions, an all time record.
  • More than 373 million ad impressions served to potential travelers
  • 10,654 travel advisors trained
  • More than 153,891 views of the Official Guide to Anchorage
  • 2.6 million users on Anchorage.net
  • 191,698 visitors to Anchorage Visitor Information Centers
  • High profile media hits for Anchorage including Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and many others

 

A full recap of 2024 was presented as one element of the Report to the Community on February 6, 2025.

Report to the Community

Tourism powers Anchorage. Find results from 2024, a recap of marketing and promotions programs, and highlights from the work at Visit Anchorage.

Read More

2025 Outlook

People continue to prioritize travel and plan trips, however economic uncertainty looms. Lower-income consumers may already be hesitant to spend. Across multiple national sentiment surveys, higher-income earners continue to prioritize travel in their discretionary spending. That could mean that luxury and high-end travel flourishes while budget operators sees softer performance. Visit Anchorage will focus on driving demand and increasing length of stay as a means to improve the community results from tourism and enhance the visitor experience.

The private sector is investing tremendous amounts locally in expansions and renovation. Hotels including the Anchorage Hilton, Hotel Captain Cook, Wildbirch, and cultural attractions like the Alaska Native Heritage Center are just the most prominent examples of existing businesses significantly enhancing their product now and in the near future.

Winter and shoulder season growth is encouraging, with more interest is that we have more inquiries than ever before from meetings and travel trade willing to come to Anchorage in all seasons. Visit Anchorage invested in showcasing November and December with a new promotion, Heyi Days, encompassing all the community events, outdoor activities and holiday activity from late November to the end of December.

However, there are large uncertainties, particularly at the state and federal level that will require constant monitoring and adaptation:

Federal hiring freezes, layoffs, and rapid policy reversals and court rulings have injected uncertainty into travel decision making related to federal lands including national parks and national forests.

U.S. trade policy, possible tariffs, and any restrictions on international visitation could hamper overseas visitation to Anchorage. While the majority of Anchorage visitors are Americans, travelers from countries including Canada, the U.K., and Germany are typically avid Alaska travelers as well. Policy decisions making inbound visits to the U.S. more difficult could combine with a strong dollar to make a visit in 2025 less palatable.

Bookings for Anchorage meetings in 2025 are solid, however the years beyond are softer, and at least a few planners have signaled they are hesitant to book a future meeting anywhere with federal programs uncertain and economic concerns looming.

Visit Anchorage 2025 Scope of Work

All of Anchorage benefits from the coordinated tourism marketing and promotions campaign. Luckily, the community has a $11.4 million dollar promotional effort going into the market for 2024. Highlights of the work in 2025 will include:

  • Increases to digital advertising buys to include pay-per-click, digital display ads, national TV streaming and audio platforms, and e-communications efforts.
  • Emphasis on earned media through travel journalist outreach, media pitching, and promotional partnerships.
  • Integration and sharing of new video and photo assets in promotional efforts.
  • Continued research focused on traveler sentiment on Anchorage and visitor demographics, travel habits, and satisfaction.
  • Emphasis on growth of non-summer visitation via meetings and conventions and enhanced consumer promotional efforts packaging holiday, solstice, and winter festivities in Anchorage.
  • Expansion of sales efforts before travel trade, convention and meeting planners, and consumer audiences in core domestic and overseas markets.

 

Visit Anchorage Financials

2024 Balance Sheet

​Net Assets

Balance Forward: $15,658,448
Restricted Investments: $101,891
Net Capital Assets: $2,717,889.89
Current Liabilities: $1,334,252
Total Assets: $15,937,024

 

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Bed Tax

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