Tourism benefits businesses of all types. Hotels, tour companies and restaurants all benefit from visitor dollars, but tourism has benefits for other business as well. From car repair to construction and farming to finance, there are some surprising secondary benefits from tourism. Together we can strengthen the economy and make our community better.
Tourism in Alaska
- Statewide, direct visitor industry spending is more than $2.42 billion annually. It generates 38,700 jobs in Alaska and $1.3 billion in labor income.
- On average, each visitor spends approximately $1,000 in Alaska during their visit, on top of the cost of the airfare or cruise to get here.
Here in Anchorage
- More than 40 percent of visitor-industry-related spending in Alaska is in the Southcentral region.
- Visitors spend more than $798 million annually in Southcentral Alaska. That excludes the cost of transportation to Alaska (a cruise, air tickets or ferry tickets).
- On average, meetings and conventions in Anchorage account for an estimated economic impact of $94 million annually.
- One in 10 Anchorage jobs is in tourism. That’s 19,200 people in Southcentral who work thanks to tourism, with $604 million in labor income.
- Tourism generates millions of dollars in municipal bed tax annually. Since 1979, more than $160 million in bed taxes has gone directly into the Municipality of Anchorage general fund.
- According to the Alaska Department of Labor, leisure and hospitality employment is a bright spot for Anchorage amid challenges in other economic sectors.
Source: Visit Anchorage
