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Denali park visits plunge 13 percent

NUMBERS: Weather, gas prices blamed for decline in some areas.

Daily News staff and wire

Published: July 17th, 2008
Last Modified: July 17th, 2008 at 12:48 AM

Visits to Denali National Park are down 13 percent so far this year, and everything from high gas prices to bad weather is getting blamed.

Park officials said 143,514 visitors entered Denali by the end of June, compared to 164,324 by the same time last year.

Camping reservations dropped 17 percent through June 22, said Denali spokeswoman Kris Fister.

In contrast, tour bus ridership -- largely composed of cruise ship visitors -- has remained steady, she said.

That suggests the decline in Denali visits this year has less to due with fewer cruise ship travelers and more to do with a reduction in independent travelers, she said.

Overall cruise ship visitation to Alaska is expected to be roughly the same as it was last year -- just under 1 million passengers, according to the Alaska Travel Industry Association.

But in communities such as Healy and Talkeetna that feed off Denali traffic, business owners say they are seeing a major decline in bookings.

In the Healy area, bookings are off by 20 to 30 percent, said Neal Laugman, the past president of the Denali Chamber of Commerce.

Drivers are already reeling from high gas prices. It doesn't help that the summer weather has been pretty lousy, Laugman said.

"It's been pretty wet in the park," he said.

It seems like there's only been about seven days of the summer without rain, he said.

Some businesses have begun offering bargains in hopes of convincing more Alaskans to visit the area.

One of the major hotel operators in the area, Denali Park Resorts, is offering half-price deals, a $100 gas card and specials on tours and activities.

"We are really having to provide tremendous value for the gas dollar," said Bob Concienne, vice president for Alaska operations for Aramark Parks and Destinations, which owns Denali Park Resorts.

Traffic is down at the company's four lodging facilities near the park.

"The incentive is gas," he said. "If we can incentivize folks to come visit our properties if we pay for their gas, all the better."

Some independent businesses serving tourists around the national park say they're unable to offer such drastic incentives.

Instead, they are relying on word-of-mouth advertising and loyalty, offering discounts for return customers and military, and hoping the tourist season picks up.

Tourism is definitely slow this season, said Joanna Cockman, co-owner of Denali Outdoors Center, even though a bright spot has been an increase in German visitors who, she said, are more likely to travel on their own.

The Healy business pairs a campground and cabins with raft trips, kayak tours and mountain bike excursions.

The slowdown has also hit high-end tourist services such as flightseeing.

Tim Cudney, director of business development for Era Helicopters, said Era is taking the slowdown in stride, trying to manage better instead of laying off staff or making other cuts.

Era raised rates significantly last year to reflect higher fuel costs, and that is somewhat offsetting declines, Cudney said.

Talkeetna Air Taxi, which flies tourists and mountain climbers to Mount McKinley, said its scenic flight trips to the mountain are down by about 5 percent.

That's a big change for the company, which had seen 10 to 20 percent increases in customer volume almost every year since 1991, said Sandra Loomis, the company's business manager.

"The weather doesn't help," she said, adding that she is crossing fingers that the last half of the summer will be beautiful.

One curious thing is that the company has dropped off more climbers on the mountain -- about 10 percent more this year than last year, she said.

She thinks the jump is due to an influx of European climbers taking advantage of the weak dollar.

Daily News reporter Elizabeth Bluemink contributed to this story.