Early indicators such as lodging reservations and booked adventures show that 2016’s tourism season should break last summer’s records-which broke records.
Executive Director Shanon Davis with the Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council says the Department of Economic Development expects growth in tourism across the state.
Davis: “They are predicting another two to three percent increase in tourism this year over last year. And last year, as everybody knows, was a record year, as a matter of fact the Kenai Peninsula was actually up 8.6 percent over the previous year in 2015 so we are going to see some pretty incredible numbers this summer.”
She says along with low travel prices due to a decrease in fuel costs, the idea of travel has taken on a new value.
Davis: “Social capital is no long the BMW in the driveway, it is the pictures of themselves doing an incredible activity posted on social media. So this is really driving that desire to travel in younger and younger people. Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula are perfectly positioned to take advantage of those desires.”
Davis says members of the KPTMC are reporting early bookings across the peninsula.