The Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau is trying to finish a draft of its tourism best management practices.
The renewed push comes after the effort to adopt best practices was waylaid by the onset of the pandemic almost two years ago.
The latest draft was distributed among the CVB board members at their Nov. 4 work session to share with businesses and get their input for a final draft that would go before the borough assembly after the holidays, and once enough input from business owners and tour operators is collected.
When the visitor bureau began drafting guidelines, it was centered on cruise ships, said Carol Rushmore, Wrangell’s economic development director. The CVB doesn’t get a lot of complaints, but if it did, Rushmore said, it wanted to have guidelines to refer to and “address potential issues that could happen in the future.”
Best practices are intended to minimize the impacts of tourism while addressing both resident and industry concerns and enhancing Wrangell’s visitor experience, according to the draft.
The guidelines don’t replace city, state or federal regulations, but by actively participating in the voluntary guidelines, participating businesses can demonstrate their commitment to address community concerns.
The best practices are divided into categories: transportation, trails, cruise ships, docks and harbors, tours, restaurants and hospitality businesses, general agreements, and health protocol guidance.
Under transportation and trails are guidelines on courteous driving and respecting residential properties along trailheads.
Cruise ships should meet emission standards and coordinate trash pickup ahead of time, instead of leaving cruise ship trash in receptacles on the City Dock cul-de-sac.
Port and harbors should leave enough trash cans near City Dock, and empty them regularly. A pre-season meeting should be held between port staff and operators regarding dock access, parking and other issues. The guidelines also list best practices for loading and unloading vessels, not idling at floats on heavy use days to minimize fumes and noise, and keeping fish cleaning tables clean.
Marine, sightseeing and sport fishing tours operating on the Stikine River should follow river etiquette, such as calling themselves in and out of sloughs, radio the group about paddlers and minimize wake.
Restaurants, hospitality businesses and retail businesses should sweep the sidewalk in front of their establishments, make sure sandwich boards don’t block foot traffic, and should not place signs on private property.
General agreements in the plan include distributing the cruise ship calendar online, and posted on travelwrangell.com for residents and businesses to help them with planning.
Businesses that agree to take part in the best practices plan should provide a contact name, telephone number, fax number and email address. Another agreement is responding to hotline messages within three business days.
The last category, health protocol guidance, is not a mandatory guideline under the plan but was added to the draft to make participants aware of best practices toward providing a healthy and safe visitor experience in 2022.
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