Visit anchorage Visit Alaska: drawing dollars for communities, explorers for state.

• Author: Hollander, Zaz
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Conventions, Meetings & Corporate Travel

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The World Beard and Moustache Championships came for a visit. So did the Association of Band and Instrument Repair Technicians. Astronomers, too--more than 1,000 members of the American Astronomical Society including telescope-toting NASA scientists traveled to Alaska's largest city in June to share their love of the stars.

Conventions and meetings in Anchorage bring tens of thousands of visitors every year. Despite a sagging economy, Visit Anchorage--the city's convention and visitor organization--has booked $95 million to $100 million worth of meetings in Anchorage annually for five years running, according to Julie Dodds, Visit Anchorage's convention sales director.

"Everybody's dream is to visit Alaska," Dodds says. "Having a meeting here provides that opportunity."

While the majority of Anchorage's convention traffic comes from in-state groups, roughly 40 percent of the city's conference and meeting guests hail from the Lower 48 or other countries.

Along with the time they spend in Anchorage on business, those outside guests tack a few days on to their trips to see a little more of the state--fishing on the Kenai Peninsula, traveling to the Mat-Su for some hiking or taking the Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park & Preserve.

They visit Anchorage--and then explore the state for a few extra days.

Stay, Then Play

Hard numbers on the effect Visit Anchorage has on other tourist destinations are hard to come by.

The state doesn't track those numbers, according to economist Neal Fried, with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

A standard formula established by Destination Marketing Associations International estimates $974 per delegate per day. In-state visitors tend to spend less, more like $470 per delegate per day.

It's likely, however, that Anchorage visitors spend more. For one, a gift shop on Fourth Avenue selling ulu knives, smoked salmon and birch bowls might drum up more business than a comparable shop in downtown Cleveland.

For another, an unknown but significant number of delegates meet in Anchorage and then leave the municipality for additional travel. Some may bring relatives with them to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

While there is no official marketing campaign to lure convention guests outside Anchorage, Visit Anchorage works with its nearly 1,200 members to promote wider trips, according to Julie Saupe, its president and chief executive officer.

At trade shows...