A man to sell all seasons.

• Position: Interview with Alaska Tourism Marketing Council Executive Director David Karp - Interview

Alaska Tourism Marketing Council Executive Director David Karp oversees the spending of $5.3 million of state and private money to promote Alaska as a visitor destination.

In one respect, David Karp is a lot like any big-business CEO. His job, when reduced to its most basic element, is to take one of Alaska's biggest businesses and keep making it bigger every year. But, unlike most captains of industry, Karp doesn't command a large staff. Alaska statutes restrict ATMC personnel to himself and two others. Even the computer on his desk is somewhat less than first-rate. It's an older model just barely up to his needs.

None of that, however, dampens his enthusiasm for the job. Karp moves knowledgeably from subject to subject, from idea to idea like an assault rifle set to full automatic.

Karp's seventh-floor, midtown Anchorage office looks out toward the Chugach Mountains - arguably one of the "products" he is trying to sell. But even though he faces the window when seated at his desk, it's doubtful that he sees much of the mountains. Posters and bumper stickers concerning various ATMC promotions are plastered on the glass. Boxes of promotional materials are piled high in front of the window. But then, he doesn't have much time for looking outside these days. In the next few weeks he'll run a special winter tourism promotion in Phoenix and another general Alaska promotion in New York.

ABM: Early reports are that the cruise ship industry had a banner year in 1996, bringing some 440,000 people to Alaska. It seems to be a different story for the Alaska Highway.

KARP: My reports suggest that vehicle traffic was down about 11 to 15 percent this year.

ABM: We've heard several potential reasons for the decrease, the Olympics in Atlanta and rising gas prices being the most prevalent.

KARP: I don't think there was one major factor. Gas prices going up this spring when people were preparing to go certainly had something to do with it, but when they stabilized and even dropped back down a little when the season started, it still didn't seem to make that much difference.

Personally, I don't see a whole lot of problems with the Olympics. Years ago we had an Olympics out West, and that didn't seem to make much difference.

I think the net effect for 1996 is that numbers of visitors will be slightly up, though some segments like the highway are slightly down.

ABM: Will the numbers of highway travelers come back?

KARP: I think it's going to come back. You've got to remember that those who drive to Alaska are more sensitive to the economy simply because of their...