Wrangell visitor season improved over 2015, lower than 2013

The summer visitor season appears to have improved slightly over the last year for Wrangell, according to data available through the city, state and private businesses.

One indication of this has been collections of the city's transient occupancy tax, commonly called the "bed tax," a six-percent levy on room rates for local hotels, lodges and other accommodations. The Wrangell Chamber of Commerce has 17 of these listed, whose primary seasons and target markets vary. While sales tax data could be a useful way to gauge how the local economy as a whole has been doing, those are not broken down more specifically by industry.

These numbers over the last few years suggest a slowing down in visitation, though that decline has rebounded slightly this year. Most activity in the visitor sector takes place between April and the end of September, making up at least two-thirds of the full volume of room rentals for the year. So for those six months in 2013, the borough collected $32,765 in transient taxes, reflecting about $545,000 in total rentals. For comparison, the full calendar year of 2013 the city collected $46,157 in bed taxes, a six-percent share of $769,280 in activity.

The 2013 spring and summer seasons were a high point for subsequent years. After a quiet winter, visitation for the next visitor season dropped only slightly, with a one-percent decrease to $32,298 collected in transient taxes. A larger dip in activity came for the 2015 season, with $26,940 in transient taxes indicating a 16-percent decline in booked lodgings over the previous year.

Bed taxes collected this spring and summer show local accommodations have rebounded a little from that, with better than a seven-percent increase over 2015 seasonal business. Still, the $28,946 collected by the city indicates the 2016 season is about 11.5 percent short of 2013's high.

The 2013 and 2014 seasons were likely given a boost by sizable functions Wrangell hosted, with the Chief Shakes Tribal House rededication and Southeast Conference occurring in those respective years. The scheduling of construction projects and special work details also brings bodies in need of beds.

Alaska Sourdough Lodge owner Bruce Harding explained a substantial portion of their business model caters to such crews, due to its location, size and ability to provide meals year-round. This year the contaminant mitigation team cleaning up the former Byford junkyard stayed with the lodge during the summer, but last year technicians with GCI had lodged there during a number of hardware improvements, as did a paving crew the year before.

"Those things are very helpful for our bottom line," he said.

The visitor industry is an important facet of the economy for Southeast Alaskan communities, making up about 17 percent of all jobs in the region and accounting for close to a tenth of earned income. Economic forum Southeast Conference estimated some 1.4 million people visited the region last year, with the majority making their way by cruise ship.

"The bigger boats definitely made an impact," commented Jake Harris, manager of the Stikine Inn and Restaurant.

Such visitors to Wrangell bring income into the economy by perusing its shops and sights, getting in a round of golf at Muskeg Meadows or taking daytrips with a number of tour outfitters. In addition to the cruise traffic, destination tourists have been a growing part of the island's visitor industry. Staying for a few days or a week or longer, primary destinations around Wrangell are the robust bear population at Anan Wildlife Observatory on the mainland, the LeConte and Chief Shakes glaciers, and various outdoor opportunities up the Stikine River.

"Anan is the biggest attraction," said Harris. Though not the largest proportion of business, he has noticed slight increases in the charter fishing and hunting crowd, as well.

As far as this year's spring and summer seasons went, area lodgings have reported mixed success. Speaking with local hoteliers, after a lull in June visitation picked up again in mid-July, the tourist traffic continued for longer than usual into August and September.

"It caught us by surprise," commented Harris. The Stikine Inn's restaurant half wrapped up its season October 1, due to business keeping apace through September.

"For me it was quite similar to last summer," said Chris Hatton, who rents out a small float house through her Dockside Wrangell business.

"It's been pretty steady even after the summer," agreed Julie Decker, of Mt. Dewey Garden Guesthouse. Her small rental apartment keeps a different schedule than most lodgings, available for longer-term rental to boat repairers during the winter in addition to summer travelers.

Corresponding with these transient tax trends, ferry passengers disembarking at Wrangell during the spring and summer seasons show a decline in numbers over the past several years. For example, in 2015 Wrangell was the destination for 3,372 people from April through September, with every month a drop from the previous year's counterpart. In all, traffic for those six months dropped by 18.6 percent from 2014 numbers, and dropped by 25.1 percent when compared to 2013.

Partly this is attributable to slight reductions in operating weeks for the Alaska Marine Highway System, as well as problems with scheduling and maintenance the past two seasons. Leslie Cummings of Grand View Bed and Breakfast said the unexpected layup of the M/V Columbia last month stranded a few groups of scheduled lodgers, including a family from Ireland.

"The good news was the guests were all very, very kind," she said.

"It did turn out okay," commented Becky Rooney, owner of Rooney's Roost. Despite some problems, a substantial portion of her clientele still arrived by ferry this year, with those finding plans disrupted able to find other means of transport. "People seemed to adjust to it."

"This year we were busier than last year," said Christie Jamieson, of Squawking Raven Bed and Breakfast. She noticed a majority of her visitors were European, coming to either see the Anan Wildlife Observatory or to fish. The majority came by ferry, and booked rooms using either Airbnb or Booking.com. While two couples' plans were compromised due to the summer's ferry problems, Jamieson still figured that last year had been a more disruptive season.

On the other hand, air traffic to and from Wrangell did not correspond with ferry service trends. According to Alaska Airlines' records, while passengers had declined in 2014 from the previous year by about seven percent, traffic rose again by three and a half percent during 2015. Figures for 2016 are currently not available for comparison.

In its annual economic report released last month, SEC projected the visitor industry should still improve in coming years. In particular, it highlighted an expected rise in cruise passenger totals, with arrivals in 2018 to surpass the record set 10 years prior thanks to the deployment of larger vessels. On a more ominous note, the report also drew attention to cuts to the state tourism marketing budget, which this year has been reduced by 92 percent from FY2015 levels.

Harding's concern is that, going forward, cuts to state transportation and capital improvement budgets will see a reduction of projects, and the business it brings. As an example he cited the planned resurfacing of Evergreen Road, work for which is expected to start next year but has already been delayed each year since 2013.

A project to replace the floats at Shoemaker Bay Harbor is also first in queue next year for match grant funding through the Department of Transportation. But receipt of the funding is dependent on how much is budgeted to the program. Already ranked second the previous year, the item was passed over due to a lack of budget to fully fund the $5,000,000 match.