Departments

Visit Anchorage has more than 30 employees, more than 80 volunteers and registration assistants, and approximately 700 member businesses. Each department works to attract and serve visitors to Anchorage in a different way.

Sales

Visit Anchorage’s Meetings and Conventions sales team is responsible for booking conventions, meetings, and events while also providing service to meetings and events in Anchorage. The department staff works to attract meetings, conventions, events, and trade shows year-round through a variety of sales activities and custom proposals. 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 program 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.

The Travel Trade staff is responsible for bringing leisure visitors to Anchorage, both through independent travel and through group tour travel providers. They work with a network of tour operators and travel advisors to pursue increased year-round visitation 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 and increasing the number of Alaska tours and trips offered. The department also works with airports, airlines, and cruise partners to increase capacity and welcome new carriers into Southcentral Alaska.

Communications

Communications is responsible for local, statewide, national, and international public relations, advertising, marketing, graphics, branding, Anchorage.net, and collateral development for Visit Anchorage. The combined efforts directly benefit all departments and programs. The department is responsible for the look, image, and messaging of all external communications while developing marketing programs and promotions to increase visits and support major Anchorage-based events.

If you see Anchorage in the travel section of a national publication, on screen, or in ads, odds are the Visit Anchorage Communications department played a part in it. The team informs national and international media outlets of new tours, attractions, and businesses in Anchorage, and pitches story ideas for possible coverage. The department produces high-quality publications including the Official Guide to Anchorage, Neighborhood Guide, and Local Flavor Restaurant and Entertainment Guide. Communications staff also maintains social media presences to foster a dialogue between potential visitors, businesses, residents, and Visit Anchorage. In addition, the department is responsible for website development, e-communication, video production, government relations, and research for the organization.

Destination Services

Destination Services works with the visitor industry, residents, and visitors in the destination, 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, and is also responsible for helping local tourism businesses through membership services, industry advocacy, advertising sales for Visit Anchorage publications and web properties, and educational and networking events to ensure visitors have an unforgettable experience and feel 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, IT, Shared Services, and the Executive Assistant. The CEO works directly with the Board of Directors, staff, and members to oversee all Bureau operations and programs, manage Visit Anchorage’s finances, and budget, while executing the Annual Plan developed with and approved by the Board of Directors. The guiding principles and objectives that the President considers in performing this work are the mission statement, goals outlined in the Strategic Plan, and Visit Anchorage’s Guiding Principles.