Southeast Alaska tourism looms large: coastal communities see innovation as key to growth.

• Author: Pardes, Joan
• Position: Cover story

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When it comes to size, Southeast Alaska is not the biggest kid on the block. Compared to the rest of the state, the area can't even weigh in. But what it lacks in miles is more than made up with its share of the state's natural wonders. From famous fjords (including the internationally known Inside Passage), rainforests, accessible glaciers and abundant wildlife to unsurpassed recreational opportunities such as world-class fishing, kayaking, hiking and climbing opportunities--Alaska's smallest region knows how to pack a punch. And when it comes to tourism, it's been making the grade by attracting the lion's share of the state's visitors.

"Our growth has been slow and steady over the past several years," said Lorene Palmer, chief executive officer and president of the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau. Juneau is the community that attracted most of the state's visitors in 2006. "It's really an ideal growth pattern, since it allows the community to keep up on its infrastructure."

For more than a decade, many communities that line the Inside Passage have invested in infrastructure to support the cruise industry--ships like to ply the pristine and protected waters of Alaska's Panhandle. And that investment is yielding real results.

According to the summer 2006 Alaska Visitors Statistics Program, Southeast attracted 1.2 million visitors of the state's total 1.63 million tourists. Southcentral came in second with 907,000 visitors, then the Interior with 534,000 (450,000 that went to Denali alone), Southwest garnered 54,000, and 49,000 visitors ventured to the Far North. With a whopping 59 percent of Alaska's travelers arriving by cruise ships (36 percent arrived by air and 5 percent via highway or ferry), Southeast's unique waterways are the road to the area's solvency.

REINVENTING AND INVESTING IN KETCHIKAN--ALASKA'S GATEWAY CITY

While Juneau is considered the state's top destination--the city attracted 63 percent of the 2006 summer-season tourists--its siblings to the south and north (Ketchikan and Skagway) also lured a large number of the state's total visitors to tie for second place with 53 percent of the take.

Located near the southern border of the state, Ketchikan is usually the first or last port of call on a typical cruise itinerary. In recent years, Alaska's Gateway City has re-created itself from a former logging town to one of the state's premier destinations.

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