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Weekly UpdatesMore conventions are happening in Anchorage in the winter. What's happening to create this?
Typically, the summer season in Alaska enjoys multitudes of tourists. At this time, hotel rooms are booked and unavailable for larger events. In the fall, rooms and meeting space are available so the convention season has relied on what is called the shoulder season--September, October in the fall; and April, May in the spring. Now even that season is expanding.
Why?
Most event planners would credit the Anchorage Visitor and Convention Bureau with the great job it is doing promoting Alaska for the increase in business.
ACVB has added one new sales person to its staff as the staff continues to travel, attend meetings, maintain booths, and share what Alaska has to offer.
NEW DEN'AINA CIVIC & CONVENTION CENTER
The new civic & convention center will make a huge difference. Anchorage will now have the opportunity to bring large groups to Alaska, in a way that has not been possible before.
Citywide conferences, which means that one group takes all the hotels in town, can be held for numbers of 2,500, or even 4,000 or 5,000. This was not possible before.
Anchorage has had to turn down such groups in the past, because it simply could not accommodate them. The dynamics are changing.
"The new Den'aina Civic & Convention Center will open doors so we can go after bigger groups," says Julie Dodds, director of convention sales, ACVB, "particularly ones with trade associations."
It also will allow for booking multiple meetings. "It used to be that if we had a meeting of 800 people at the Egan Convention center, that was it--we couldn't book other meetings," adds Dodds.
Large groups have big general sessions and dinner events. They may need thousands of square feet for exhibit space. Anchorage can now accommodate their needs and attract these types of larger conventions.
ACVB now has a research manager to find groups between 2,000 and 5,000. That opens up the possibility of hundreds of groups, but it normally takes two years to work with a group and find its next open date, says Dodds.
The new convention center has been designed to have skylights to take advantage of natural light in the northeast and southwest corners. The ballroom will have windows-much different than others in the Lower 48, says Karen Zak, general manager for Visions Meeting & Event Management.
Covered walkways and sky bridges will connect to the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and the William A. Egan Civic & Convention Center as an added bonus. The idea of the whole business complex will be sold. Sidewalks will be lined with trees, a canopy and lighting.
The new convention center is scheduled to open in 2008. ACVB staff has been busy booking events into 2009, 2010 and ahead. The USA-Canada Lions Leadership Forum in September of 2011 will be the largest out-of-state convention booked for Anchorage, beating out St. Louis, Mo.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Phoenix. This showcase event is just one example of the remarkable job ACVB is doing in promoting Alaska.
THE CONVENTION SEASON IS EXPANDING
If an event planner calls in early September for an event but finds all the hotel space is booked for September and October, then the planner will have to look at November as a possibility. If April and May are busy, then March becomes a possibility.
The promoter can offer a client an advantage to booking in November. No. 1, it is the off-season. Hotel rates will be lower-a savings to the client.
Winter activities also can be used as an incentive to draw clients. The Anchorage Fur Rendezvous and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are main attractions. The Iditarod, a uniquely Alaska event, starts the first Saturday in March, so groups coming at that time can experience the start.
Hotels like Alyeska Resort offer alpine skiing/boarding, cross-country skiing, and glacier snowmobiling as winter activities. And the resort's newly opened full-service spa adds perks for its guests.
Private planners use draws such as dog sledding, hell-skiing/boarding, wildlife viewing, flight-seeing, as well as horse-drawn sled rides, ice fishing, show-shoeing, and outdoor bonfires to entice clients to book Alaska for events.
DISPELLING THE MYTHS
Alaska is dark 24 hours a day in the winter. Alaska has sunlight 12 hours a day in months when the sun is going down much earlier in other states.
Alaska is cold. But it can be just as cold or colder in New York, Chicago, Iowa, Montana or Minnesota. Our weather is just as good as other cities.
Alaska is hard to get around. The roads here are always clear. We are not the frozen arctic. Alaska boasts better snow-plowing service, equipment and preparedness than many other areas that get bogged down with one fall of snow. As one meeting planner says, "The airport is never closed."
Alaska is no further to go as a destination than Hawaii. An adventure to Alaska is exciting.
ACVB is always targeting winter; it's just a harder sell. Many groups do not even want to go to Chicago or Seattle in the winter; they'd rather go to Scottsdale, Ariz.; or Orlando, Fla.
One way of convincing potential groups to come to Alaska is to invite a board of directors for a familiarization trip to showcase the beauty of Alaska and spoil them with great meals, events and fantastic scenery in a flight-seeing trip. Proposals can be offered showing airfares, room rates, and an actual planned itinerary. Slide shows of glistening snow, attractive mountain peaks, nature's beauty, a bull moose in the wild, or eagles in flight are a must. The aurora borealis offers its own fascination, a sight better viewed in winter. Even some animals are better spotted in winter.
Incentive groups have preferred to come to Alaska in the summer, but winter attractions can also make their package appealing. These high-end events can be all inclusive with choices of winter activities for the guests.
Anchorage's Alaska Native Heritage Center continually showcases different activities.
The museums are always open. The Anchorage Folk Festival draws many listeners and participants every year.
Seward's winter attraction-Renoun Wildlife and Glacier Cruises of Prince William Sound--is open year-round. Maybe Talkeetna would extend its season if it got booked, too. Chena Hot Springs now attracts charter jets from Japan.
FAIRBANKS ABOUNDS IN DOG SLEDDING EVENTS, ICE ART, AND NORTHERN LIGHTS
Kathy McCauley, convention service coordinator for Fairbanks Visitor & Convention Bureau, calls winter the "opportunity season." Fairbanks' winter highlight convention for March 11 to March 17 in 2007 will be the World Clown Association. Many are looking forward to this event. The public will be invited to the competition events that will be judged for talent, originality, costume and makeup.
"They picked us out of everywhere else," says McCauley. "This is an event that is going to be one of our most fun events of the year."
Jade Frank, public relations coordinator for FCVB, says its most popular event is dogsledding. (The fact that the Alaska Dog Mushers Association has its headquarters in Fairbanks may help in promoting such events.)
On Feb. 11, 2007, Fairbanks hosts the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, a grueling 1,000-mile race that begins in Whitehorse and ends in Fairbanks, booked as the "toughest sled dog race in the world."
The March 17 to March 19 GCI Open North America Championship Sled Dog Race features sprint races.
Another big draw for Fairbanks is the ice festival. Carvers from all over the globe attend The World Ice Art Championships Feb. 27 through March 25, which displays more than 180 giant ice sculptures, larger than life, in a wooded ice park with lights at night.
Celebrations continue with the Winter Carnival in March.
Fairbanks also boasts the best spot in the world for northern lights viewing, with the clearest skies.
SPORTING EVENTS
Alaska was the hotspot for the Arctic Winter Games; crowds packed the Special Olympics in the Kenai/Soldotna/Homer area. Offering worldclass skiing, Alyeska Resort hosted the 2004 World Airlines Ski championships. This winter it will host the United States Ski & Snowboard Association. Fairbanks boasts being host to the U.S. Ski Team, the U.S. Biathlon Team, the Canadian Ski Team and the 2003 Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships.
The Great Alaska Shootout in November in Anchorage can be promoted as a big draw.
Fairbanks hosts a similar event where top universities come to compete at the BP Top of the World Classic, a Division I event for basketball. The University of Alaska Fairbanks also holds Division I ice hockey tournaments October through March.
Whether you are looking for steep slopes, or an Arctic adventure, the state of Alaska has great resources for winter. Get excited. Be wild about Anchorage. The conventions are coming.
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