The first small tour boat of the summer is due May 9, with the first large cruise ship scheduled for May 16, and it’s time for the borough’s annual pre-season informational meeting for businesses and anyone else involved in the tourism industry.
The meeting is set for 9 a.m. Thursday, April 25, in the assembly chambers at City Hall.
The agenda includes a review of the cruise ship schedule, along with staging and transportation logistics for business that pick up and drop off passengers.
If all of the ships’ berths are full, Wrangell could see about 25,000 cruise ship travelers May through September. Vacancies are likely to bring that number down, close to last year’s estimated passenger count of just under 23,000.
The meeting also will include a review of best management practices for tourism businesses, visitor survey plans, the state’s Petroglyph Beach permit fees, and a review of the community’s marketing plans and this year’s Wrangell travel guide which was produced by the borough and the Wrangell Sentinel.
“Come learn all about the plans we have in place for this season,” said Kate Thomas, borough economic development director.
The meeting is open to the public, though the target audience is tour operators, restaurant and accommodation businesses, tribal partners and other organizations and businesses involved in tourism services.
Staff from the Nolan Center and departments of Economic Development, Parks and Recreation, Port and Harbors, Public Works and Public Safety will be available at the meeting to answer questions.
The meeting is scheduled to run for an hour, Thomas said, though she will be available for a second hour to talk with people who have further questions.
The meeting agenda includes a reminder that the Alaska Division of Parks intends this year to require commercial tour operators to obtain a license and pay a per-person fee when they bring people on guided trips to Petroglyph Beach.
The property was designated a state historic site in 2000, and is one of Wrangell’s most popular attractions, but the state failed to publicize and enforce its permit fee requirement for commercial operators. The Division of Parks realized its error last year, announcing that it would start enforcing the permit requirement this summer.
“I understand why people feel prickly about that,” Thomas said. And while the borough is talking with the state about a new agreement governing shared maintenance and repairs to the site, such as the viewing platform, the permit fee is a matter of state law, she said.
Under the law, permit fees are not dedicated to the parks where they are collected. Instead, they are spent on projects across Alaska, based on need. The borough has said it would like to see Petroglyph Beach permit fees go toward improving the site.
Tour operators who collect the fees and visitors who pay the fees would be more supportive “if they knew their money was staying in Wrangell,” Thomas said.
The commercial operator one-time application fee is $100; the annual license fee is $350; and operators are required to pay the state $6 per person on guided tours.
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