The main economic engine of Talkeetna vanished last year when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most large-scale tourism. A year later, signs point to some of the visitors coming back. Cruise ships may not be bringing passengers this summer, but some of those travelers are planning to come on their own.
Talkeetna’s Main Street in the summer is often a tricky place to navigate. Nearly every day, buses, trains, and rented vehicles bring more than enough visitors to outnumber the local permanent population by a decent margin. Last year, though, it more closely resembled the quiet small town that hundreds of thousands pay to see every year. There were very few tour buses, no cruise company nametags or tote bags, and largely empty trains.
A year later, though a common refrain is popping up from industry groups, property managers, and the National Park Service.
“We know that there’s a pent-up demand for Alaska.” “What we’re seeing now is a pent-up demand.” “We have a pent-up demand from last year.”
Whether its people who would typically board a cruise ship, travel abroad, or climb a mountain, Alaska is finding its way into many travel plans. Fernando Salvadaor is the Vice President and General Manager of the Alaska Collection by Pursuit, which operates five properties in the state, including the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Often, cruise ship passengers make up a large portion of bookings, but Salvador says that has shifted to independent travelers this year. He believes the late summer may see the largest increase in travelers and says the Talkeetna lodge has extended its season from mid-September into early October in anticipation.
“You know, they had cruises planned for last year that got pushed to this year, and again with cruises being canceled again for this year, they just really want to get to Alaska.”
Organizations like the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau are also targeting independent travelers from Outside. But Bonnie Quill, the bureau’s president and CEO, says Alaskans provided a much-needed boost to some businesses over the last year, and are also on the marketing priority list.
“We will have a robust in-state resident campaign. Our small tourism businesses have shared that it was in-state residents that really saved their business from closing.”
That’s not to say that the big cruise lines are writing off Alaska for a second summer. Bonnie Quill says Princess Cruises, which brings the largest proportion of visitors to the Northern Susitna Valley, is planning on operating some of its lodges even if no ships call on Alaska ports.
“And currently they’ve announced that they are going to open one property in Denali, the Kenai Princess, and the Fairbanks property.”
While COVID-19 seems less threatening than it did this time last year, it still hasn’t gone away, and tourism businesses still have to contend with the pandemic. Some, like Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, stayed open despite the drop in visitors, and Fernando Salvador says that will help when more people start returning.
In addition to things like cleaning and sanitation and plans for social distancing, Salvador says staff are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated for COVID-19. In fact, he says workers coming for the whole season can become eligible to receive their vaccine in Alaska.
“They’re offering for seasonal workers coming up here–if you’re going to be up here for over ‘X’ number of days, then the vaccination is part of quote-unquote ‘coming to Alaska.’”
All of this plays into another part of marketing strategy that many businesses are taking up: Selling the Susitna Valley, and Alaska as a whole, as a safe place to vacation. Bonnie Quill says the state has a lot going for it in that regard.
“Alaska is far above other destinations in getting the vaccine, in having fewer cases and fewer deaths, and our wide open spaces….”
The Talkeetna Chamber of Commerce has also gotten in on the idea with the “Talkeetna Together” initiative. The voluntary program allows businesses to display a yellow sticker on their storefront to indicate that they are following state and CDC recommendations for COVID-19.
For now, as breakup comes, the other common phrase aside from “pent-up demand” seems to be “cautious optimism” for what the summer season may bring.
