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
