Programs: NW silver, Spirit Somebody; DL, CO, UA once gold now dirt. AA & US for magazines.
Posts: 6,002
Cruise lines are unhappy about the state's $50 head-tax and are threatening to reduce capacity and put boats elsewhere, though I'm sure the lion's share of the downturn is due to the economy and not the tax. I think the past marketing of Alaska cruises (at least what reaches here) has been quite a bit different from what we get for, say, Caribbean cruises out of Florida. For the latter I'd expect a somewhat debauched food & drink soaked experience with choices all up and down the price range, whereas Alaska has been marketed with the Gavin MacLeod commercials as some breathtaking once-in-a-lifetime thing (probably targeted at older people expecting to pay more).
My outlay for Fairbanks in late September was $35 on the ticket (thanks in part to DL charging $25 to book awards including AS, a fee I think they'll soon eliminate), $29.88 total for 4 nights of lodgings at a 2.5-star place (though subsidized by about $253 via the Expedia refer-a-friend promo, a major "incentive" for doing the trip), and $105.36 total for 4 days on a midsized car rent (Would have been $139 without ENT coupon). Burned $53.53 worth of gas at $3.30 or so a gallon (about $1.05/gallon more expensive than ATL).
"Discretionary" spending over the 4 days totaled around $230, some of which I would readily admit could be cuttable but I didn't wanna. Tried Chowder House on the Trip Advisor recommendations and the smoked salmon chowder was memorably great. Sunday Brunch at the Pump House also was worth doing even at $20.50 (didn't eat a dinner that night). A Chinese place and a steak place were just so-so. $12 for the UAF museum and $10 for Chena Hot Springs Resort were well-spent. Didn't buy that much "stuff" (did only carry-ons on the way back to avoid baggage fees!), but a 1964 guide to the state at $15 proved hard to pass up. I'd probably self-cater a lot more in a place like Tok or Glennallen or even Valdez.
Programs: NW silver, Spirit Somebody; DL, CO, UA once gold now dirt. AA & US for magazines.
Posts: 6,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gardyloo
IMO the whole point of states and localities promoting tourism is to leverage some kind of economic multiplier out of visitor expenditures. If you promote tourism to people who will only camp and hike, make sandwiches instead of patronizing local restaurants, use rent-a-wreck car hire companies, and limit their entertainment spend to watching float planes taxi around at Lake Hood, why bother? Those people are costing the state income, not adding to it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackal
Gardyloo has a valid point, though, that budget travel doesn't add significant income to the state. Still promoting the idea of Alaska as an affordable travel destination in the shoulder season (perhaps not "budget," but definitely for normal middle-class people seeking an affordable trip) would help everyone--it'll help people working seasonally in the tourism industry stay employed longer (contributing to the state's economy by helping them stay in the state and spend money here longer) and by helping tourism business owners increase their revenues, which increases what they spend in the local economy.
I guess what I meant by "budget" was in relation to costs with the cruises or high-season, rather than something Kerouacian. Against Gardyloo's scenario it's more like midrange, though I do wonder if the economics work one segment that might *think* they're saving a lot of money, namely the RV crowd driving all the way from the lower 48. Am sure that depends heavily on gas prices, how many are sharing costs and what the comparison basis is (worst high-season costs?), but this economy can't be helping much with that. There's also every chance of $4-5 gas again when the economy recovers.
Maybe if you live in Seattle or around there you get the last-minute offers from cruise companies trying to fill space, but I think in most of the country AK is someplace they'd like to go see at some vague point (the B4 U DIE bit).
But it's the kind of place that I think can convert people into repeat visitors at a very high rate (vs. other destinations) if they can just get them to go there once, even on a trip with ambitions set relatively low vs. some of the brochures. Maybe someone goes in shoulder season on a fly-drive with an award ticket and likes the place enough to make bigger plans for a second trip.
That's a reasonable budget for summer in Anchorage, though you could shave a bit off by doing the (relatively nice) Motel 6 for $150 per night or (my preference) even one of the nicer B&Bs on Hillside (Highland Glen or Alaskan Frontier Gardens) for $150-180 per night..
Or, this past summer, you could knock another $100 a night off by using Priceline and picking up one of the ANC Extended Stay Americas for $60-$70 a night. Even during supposedly peak times in July and August.
And the FAI Extended Stay America was going for bids in the $50s.
Programs: NW silver, Spirit Somebody; DL, CO, UA once gold now dirt. AA & US for magazines.
Posts: 6,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quokka
Or, this past summer, you could knock another $100 a night off by using Priceline and picking up one of the ANC Extended Stay Americas for $60-$70 a night. Even during supposedly peak times in July and August.
And the FAI Extended Stay America was going for bids in the $50s.
On my 2007 trips I got the ESA Deluxe in ANC at $36++ on PL (for a suite in late April) and the Westmark in FAI at $55++ (September). Both out of high season. I noticed how the situation in ANC had changed with so many new extended-stay-like places starting up and figured the new rooms might even push prices down in high season.
Wasn't able to do the Sept. 2008 trip, but it would have come just as all kinds of media were converging on Wasilla to do more reporting/digging about Sarah Palin (who'd not long before been named as McCain's running mate). That might've caused some distortion.
Lots more rooms in ANC than even 11 or 12 years ago, though. On my first trip in 1997 the only thing fitting the budget was hostels.
