Summer time in Alaska also provides an opportunity to support, and participate in, various community events and conferences.  Our efforts help us maintain a positive image for the industry and enable us to reach both in-state and out-of-state policy and opinion leaders.  Recently, John Binkley presented to the Pacific North West Economic Region (PNWER).  PNWER is a policy and advocacy group formed by the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington, the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.  One of PNWER’s main goals is to work in cooperation to increase the economic prosperity of the region.

At a session on tourism, John discussed how a bad decision such as increasing taxes in Alaska, resulted in negative economic consequences to the entire region.  He also urged the entire region to work together to ensure we remain competitive with other destinations through lower taxes, a stable regulatory environment, and government funding for destination marketing.  John also focused on challenges facing the industry, such as ECA.   His comments led to discussion and support from all regions to urge their appropriate government entities (EPA or Transport Canada) to work with the industry to reach agreement on an alternative compliance.