A team from Oregon State University’s Sustainable Tourism Lab will conduct a survey in Wrangell next month to help the borough learn more of what residents think of tourism, the positives and any negatives of having visitors in town, and how to manage for the best outcome for the community.
The online survey will start early February, with a student researcher in town later in the month for in-person interviews.
“The purpose is to figure out where community sentiment lies” on the effects of a growing tourism industry, explained Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director.
The survey results and the Sustainable Tourism Lab’s recommendations will help the borough figure out how to manage and balance “negative sentiments/impacts with positive outcomes,” Thomas said.
‘By investigating the relationship between tourism and community needs, we can provide useful data in an objective fashion to help propel good decision making as it relates to industry policies and strategies,” she explained in a presentation last fall to the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau, which endorsed the survey project.
“Furthermore, the research collected in other communities around the country and region offers a comparison that may inform better practices and engagement with our community.”
The intent is to “understand what the community and people want,” said Todd Montgomery, director of the university program. The goal is to help towns “find that balance between community and visitor needs.”
The Sustainable Tourism Lab “started in earnest about four years ago,” he said, and has conducted multiple community surveys, including in Skagway and Cordova, Alaska; Bend and Ashland, Oregon; and overseas in Iceland and Costa Rica.
Tourism surged coming out of the travel shutdowns of the pandemic, Montgomery explained, prompting pushback from residents in a lot of cities around the world. “It’s not just cruise ships,” he said.
Montgomery said community leaders across Southeast Alaska tell him: “We’ve got to find this balance.”
Wrangell has increased its efforts in recent years to attract not just cruise visitors but also more independent travelers who would fly or take a state ferry into town, stay longer and spend more on lodging, food and tours than a daytime cruise visitor.
Students will work the surveys, compile the data and produce reports as part of their curriculum, Montgomery said, calling them “aspiring leaders in tourism.”
The university will bill only its costs to the borough, which he estimated might total around $6,500 for the Wrangell project.
The survey will include several standard questions used in all communities, with a few more developed by the borough specific to issues in Wrangell, Thomas said.
One of the standard questions could be: “Do you consider your town or community a tourist destination?” Followed by, “In general, do you feel the benefits of tourism outweigh the costs, or do the costs of tourism outweigh the benefits in your town?”
The students are scheduled to visit Wrangell Feb. 20-22 to conduct in-person surveys, meet with borough staff and attend February’s Coffee Chat, a series of monthly informal public sessions run by the economic development department for people to discuss, ask questions and share ideas about the town’s future.
In April, Montgomery will return to town to present the survey results and recommendations, Thomas said.
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