The Ketchikan Visitors Bureau is working to revamp a program that encourages local feedback on the tourism industry. It’s called the Tourism Best Management Practices. It’s an initiative modeled after one in Juneau.
The Tourism Best Management Practices committee partners with cruise lines and tour operators to come up with best practices for all parties to agree on. The goal is to minimize the negative impacts of tourism on residents, while also improving the experience for visitors.
Kirby Day is with Princess and Carnival Corporation group. He visited Ketchikan this week to spread the word about tourism best management practices. He’s been managing the program in Juneau for almost 30 years.
“It’s far from city regulation,” Day said. “It’s voluntary guidelines that the cruise industry and tour operators sign off on.”
He said when it initially started in Juneau, the concerns were mostly about road congestion. Now, there are over 100 best tourism management guidelines in the city.
People can submit complaints, compliments or concerns to the Visitors Bureau on how they’re seeing tourism affect their lives. Day said community buy-in is key. He encourages people to call the hotline to make complaints or ask questions, so the Visitors Bureau can work with people and agencies directly involved.
Mariah Dodd with the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau is implementing this locally. The Tourism Best Management Practices program started in Ketchikan in 2021 but quickly died off. Dodd said it’s important to bring it back, and she wishes it had been sooner.
“I kind of view myself as a communication conduit,” she said. “Some people may have concerns about a specific company in town or tourism, and you don’t know who to call, you don’t know what the company is, you’re just going to call an office. If you send that complaint, compliment, or concern to the hotline, I am then able to identify the company and reach out and contact them.”
Dodd said when people call the hotline, a response is guaranteed within three days. Some best practices include cruise lines not playing music when they’re docked, or tour buses not going down certain roads.
This year, she’s had a couple calls concerning tour buses on the Third Avenue bypass — which, she said, is allowed as long as there are no passengers on the bus and the main roadway isn’t blocked. Other concerns have included parking issues at Rotary Beach and Herring Cove.
All concerns are posted anonymously online. And the process is ongoing, Dodd said. Feedback is used to develop the best practices guidelines. She wants residents to feel heard and know they are not being pushed out of their community. It’s a way to come together and create solutions respectfully.
“It would be good to add some positivity to it as well, because ultimately that’s what we’re trying to do,” Dodd said. “We’re trying to find resolutions. We’re not going to make everyone happy. We’re not going to solve every problem, but we can try and figure out how to fix what we can fix.”
The practice exists, in some form, in communities across Southeast including Skagway, Wrangell, and Sitka.
Ketchikan’s Tourism Best Management Practices hotline is 907-225-8267. Comments can also be submitted online.
