The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau has decided it's almost time to get business input on its draft proposal for how the tourism industry should operate in the community, called "tourism best management practices."
Putting together the guidelines has been an ongoing project for the bureau. Wrangell Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore said it is time to reach out to businesses for their comments.
The visitor bureau met last Thursday. Under the latest draft, tour operators leading groups to the Mt. Dewey trail would agree to park only on Church Street. Cruise ships would agree to minimize noise and limit public address announcements, whistle signals and outdoor entertainment while in port.
Tour vessels using the summer floats for loading and unloading passengers would agree to leave available as much dock space as possible.
Juneau and several other Southeast port cities have adopted or are working on similar best-practices management plans.
"We need to have buy-in by the local businesses. How do you want to get that?" Rushmore said.
Bureau member Brenda Schwartz-Yeager suggested the bureau run an informational campaign, followed by a public meeting, to let people know what the group has been working on.
"I wanted to kind of get everybody's feet wet, a little bit, before we just threw it out there in a big meeting to the community," she said.
Bureau members generally agreed at last Thursday's meeting that they should focus on getting input from the tourism industry first, rather than the general public. While the operating protocols would include a way for the public to make complaints about tourism activities, the plan itself would be an agreement among tourism operators.
The bureau will continue working on the management practices plan. Rushmore said she hopes to have it ready for business input next month.
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