Daily Sitka Sentinel

Tourism Task Force Plans to Get Public Input

By SHANNON HAUGLAND

Sentinel Staff Writer

The Tourism Task Force on Tuesday learned the “rules of the road” for public meetings and set May 31 for the first work session to chart a course for completing their directives.

All but one of the nine members of the task force attended the first meeting.

The Tourism Task Force meets at Centennial Hall Tuesday. (Sentinel Photo)

The Task Force was established in March following Sitka’s record-setting 380,000 cruise visitors in 2022, with the increase attributable to the higher frequency of ship visits in the first full season following the pandemic. The forecast is for 540,000 visitors this summer.

The Tuesday’s task force meeting was attended by a handful from the public but no one spoke under persons to be heard.

Most of the one-hour session was an orientation about public meeting procedures, proper notification, and the Open Meetings Act. 

Members had concerns about accomplishing the “directives” set by the Assembly, and scheduled their first work session for two weeks from today. The meeting will be held in the conference room at the fire department because of a staffing shortage that day at Harrigan Centennial Hall, city staff said.

The directives approved by the Assembly include recommendations on tourism levels, the amount of city funding for tourism, participation in a Tourism Management Best Practices program, land use and waterfront development policies, and regional tourism strategies.

The task force is to present its recommendations to the Assembly by April 30, 2024. The Assembly has raised the possibility of turning the task force into a permanent tourism commission if that is warranted.

The task force members chose Phyllis Hackett as chairman and Rich McClear as vice chair, with no opposition. Both are serving in the at-large positions. Others represent Port and Harbors and Sustainability commissions, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, downtown business, general business, cruise terminal and tours.

Rachel Roy, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce/Visit Sitka, told the Sentinel today that the season appears to be off to a good start, with new local tour operators offering additional excursions, such as hikes in the woods and boat tours.

Roy said she attended the season’s first meeting of the Tourism Round Table Friday. The group was organized last year to bring together tour operators, attractions and transportation providers to discuss ways of cooperating, finding solutions to challenges, and improving communications among the Sitka tourism service providers.

“What’s working, what do we want to keep doing, what do we want to stop doing, or change?” she said. Issues include tour capacity, parking issues and timing of tours. Among the challenges are tours selling out, and shortages in staffing, including drivers for tours.

“We’re also brainstorming opportunities for additional attractions to spread out the visitors,” Roy said.

The Visit Sitka information center on Lake Street is seeing a steady flow of walk-in visitors on ship days as well as non-ship days, Roy said. Visit Sitka also staffs an information kiosk at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal.

Scott Wagner, a member of the new tourism task force, said today he hopes the public understands that this group is advisory only. Wagner was nominated for the task force by the Port and Harbors Commission, but is not a P&H commission member. 

“This is a step in the process,” he said of the task force’s assignment. “We can produce something by April, and the group will have to choose what they want to tackle: we can’t get to everything.”

He said he’s looking forward to the first work session, and hearing from the public about their concerns.