"Seward's Folly" is today a travel treasure, thanks to some of America's most spectacular scenery. Just a handful of highlights: Denali/Mount McKinley; Glacier Bay National Park; native Alaskan culture in Ketchikan; Russian culture in Sitka; urban cool in Anchorage. Plus of course the mindbending wintertime aurora borealis (Northern Lights)!
Cover photo: Goodfon.com.
While filming the "Adventure Alaska" episode my luxury lifestyle show Travel Time with Linda, I showcased some of the most epic, “going to the nectar of your being” and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Seriously, I had to pinch myself each day in amazement with the content we were able to capture on the show. This locale is ideal for anyone who wishes to embrace luxury escapism and experience surreal adventure. read post
Read more…Alaska cruises provide great opportunities for guests to make memories that will last a lifetime. With their unique setting in the USA's great white north, cruise guests can have experiences unlike those from other cruise locations. The natural beauty of the Alaska will take your breath away. There are a variety of different Alaska cruise options that provide great opportunities to relax and enjoy the beautiful setting. To make your cruise memorable, following are four simple suggestions: read…
Read more…Northern Lights, also known as Aurora Borealis are one of the most breathtaking sights one can ever experience. The mixture of unearthly colors display including magenta, emerald green and turquoise is so worth watching. You would be lucky enough if you get to see pink, red and purple also. It is not at all easy to spot the northern lights, however the best time to see them is from late September to late March. During these months, the nights are longest and skies are darkest. Seeing the…
Read more…Especially regarding the Kenai Peninsula and south central Alaska; Denali National Park and Preserve; and the Alaskan bush. Details: https://www.tripatini.com/group/mediaonly/forum/topics/fodor-s-travel-seeking-alaska-writers
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Alaska Fights a Tourism Cold Front
Cruise lines and resorts offer steep discounts; missing a 'Palin effect'
By CANDACE JACKSON
Travelers hunting for the biggest vacation bargains should look north, to America's last frontier.
In a travel industry rife with discounts, it's hard to beat the ones coming out of Alaska this year. Princess Cruises has a seven-day Alaskan cruise this spring for as little as $299 a person, more than 30% off last year's comparable rate. Camp Denali and North Face Lodge, two wilderness resorts in the Alaska Range, are offering 25% off rooms and cabins, which start at $1,425 a person for three nights, including meals, activities and use of fishing and other gear. Luxury cruise operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises, known for small, all-suite ships and balconied cabins, is offering 50% off nearly all Alaska itineraries, plus throwing in free excursions, such as dry-suit snorkeling in Sitka or a rainforest bike tour in Skagaway, and free airfare from 22 U.S. cities.
Some travel companies were expecting a strong season for Alaska after Gov. Sarah Palin's turn in the presidential-campaign spotlight; local tourism marketers were hoping that a "Palin effect," plus Alaska's 50th anniversary of statehood in 2009, would lead to a big bump in tourism. But on the eve of the May-to-September peak tourism season, some hotels, cruise lines and tour operators in the state say reservations are down as much as 50% from last year.
"Our early season indicators were exciting," says Ron Peck, president of the Alaska Travel Industry Association, in Anchorage. Now he expects a 10% to 20% decline in leisure visitors. While other U.S. destinations are adjusting to the economic downturn by redirecting marketing efforts to nearby states,
Alaska doesn't have that option. "Even if we got everybody from Yukon to come to Alaska it still wouldn't make a heck of a difference," Mr. Peck says of the neighboring Canadian territory, population about 30,000. "The bottom line is that we're projecting this season to be grim." The association is promoting all the new deals on a recently launched Web site, alaskashottesttraveldeals.com.
Alaskan resorts and cruises that were fully booked by this time last year are slashing rates and throwing in extra enticements, like free glacier tours and salmon bakes. Alaska Airlines is pitching in with a 15%-off special on flights from the lower 48 states to cities like Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka. The Waterfall Resort, a 40-minute floatplane ride from Ketchikan, is offering free round-trip airfare on certain dates from any Alaska Airlines gateway city, including Seattle and Chicago.
The Waterfall, a 28-year-old sports fishing lodge where guests can spot orcas while fishing for king salmon, halibut and red snapper, is usually 85% booked for summer by February; this year, there's still plenty of room. With overall bookings down by 30%, the resort is offering $900 off rates that start at $3,975 a person for three nights (including meals and fishing excursions but not airfare). In the past, "we haven't had to go to that extent," says Chuck Baird, the resort's director of marketing. In addition, the resort is lopping two weeks off its summer season, opening June 7 and closing Aug. 17.
Further north, the Knik River Lodge hopes to supplement lackluster summer bookings by attracting more day trippers. It is running more shuttle buses from nearby Anchorage and offering activities like dog-sledding tours over glaciers. The resort, with private cabins in a glacial valley, is offering a free tour of the Knik Glacier to guests staying at least two nights between May 15 and June 15. And it is running discounts such as 50% off the second and third nights for spring and summer stays booked by April 30.
Last summer, 1.7 million people visited Alaska, flat compared with 2007. But this year, responses to the annual tourism-marketing mailer, which featured Gov. Palin, were up 20%. At least one tour operator, Authentic Alaska Tours, has created a Sarah Palin-themed tour: Its one-hour "Wasilla Cultural History" tour explores the governor's former high school, Wasilla City Hall and snowmobiles used in the Iron Dog race her husband competes in.
Geri McCann, the tour-company owner, worked at a city museum in Wasilla while Gov. Palin was mayor and says she knows the Palins personally. "She put Wasilla on the map," Ms. McCann says. "If there's a market, I'm here to meet the need and give a positive impression of who she is." So far, she hasn't had any takers.
With nearly two-thirds of visitors to Alaska spending at least one night on a cruise ship, the state's $1.45 billion cruise industry is critically important to tourism. But operating in Alaska has become less profitable for cruise companies, as prices have come down. The average price of an Alaska cruise fell between 20% and 40% this year, says Tim Conder, a senior analyst with Wachovia Capital Markets -- a steeper drop than in other popular destinations. Last year, 7.5% of cruises world-wide were in Alaska, a share that is likely to shrink as the industry deploys ships to the Caribbean and other more-profitable regions.
The upshot is that some eye-popping discounts are available to Alaska as companies become motivated to fill ships. Cruise West is offering 25% off many departures, including a 12-night Coastal Odyssey trip aboard a 120-passenger ship, sailing through seaside rookeries with the chance to see sea lions and puffins; the undiscounted price is $8,049, including meals, excursions and a $200 on-board credit. Celebrity Cruises has a second-passenger-free promotion starting in May, effectively knocking 50% off the total cost. "If somebody's ever thought of taking a cruise, now is the best opportunity," says Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity's senior vice president of sales.
Holland America has seven-day Alaska cruises starting at $449 a person, and it is offering up to 50% off land tours, including one of Denali National Park and Preserve. The company has eased its booking rules, cutting nonrefundable cruise and tour deposits in half. "We know that it's a tougher decision for people this year," says Linda Springmann, vice president of Alaska marketing and sales.
Cruise operators say European bookings are lackluster, too, as Americans look to avoid air travel and stay close to home. Celebrity Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have similar discounts on some Mediterranean and Baltic Sea itineraries. Club Med is offering 50% off for the second guest at its all-inclusive resorts in Europe booked by April 30.
For those who can't commit to Alaska this year, it's possible the slowdown -- and the discounts -- will continue next summer. Alaska Sea Adventures, a custom yacht charter company, has a $500 discount off a handful of sailings this summer, like an eight-day whale watching trip in July, and it is extending the deal to 2010. "We're not seeing the number of inquiries for trips that we typically see," says Dennis Rogers, the company's owner and ship's captain. "Next year for us probably presents a bigger challenge."
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