Alaska....

[Stephanie]

Anchorage, Alaska - A campaign to boost Alaska tourism is getting national media attention, and that attention has piqued the curiosity of thousands, if not millions, of people. It was Monday when Alaska B4UDIE billboards were unveiled in Seattle, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, as a way to promote Alaska tourism.


“We're hoping they do a double-take, but not too long of a double-take while they're driving,” said Ron Peck, president, Alaska Travel Industry Association.



The edgy campaign has done exactly what officials with the Alaska Travel Industry Association had hoped.



“We have received interviews, request for interviews from CNBC, NBC, CNN, USA Today. New York Times is going to run an article and just this morning we did an interview with National Public Radio,” said Peck.



The billboards also advertise the Alaska B4UDIE Web site. Preliminary estimates show they've piqued the interest of millions of people.



“Our website was receiving, the very next day, over 1,000 hits an hour,” said Peck.



If you do a Web search, the slogan pops up on dozens of media sites, from Boston to Texas, CNN to The Washington Times.



“I've been in this position for over three years and in two days I’ve talked to more people in terms of radio and television interviews than I’ve probably done in the last year and a half. So it's causing a stir and it’s great news for Alaska and tourism in Alaska,” said Peck.



Alaskan scenery speaks for itself. It's a place that has more mountains than buildings, more wildlife than people and more glaciers than stoplights. Add the billboards into the mix, and it creates a great formula.



“It's just generated a great deal of response and that's really the intent. We want them to think about it a little bit and, in fact, we have actually had, anecdotally some folks send us emails saying, ‘Ya know, we've wanted to come to Alaska, and we saw the billboard and we booked our trip the next day,’” said Peck.



So far, it seems the effort to get thousands of people to take the trip of a lifetime is working. The buzz is big, and time will tell if the campaign this fall will bring in large numbers next summer.


Check out the web site.... alaskab4udie.com

 

[Semper Fi]

Tourism is in contention with commercial fishing and crabbing, as well as anything else, for the biggest industry in Alaska. I know from experience, tourists are everywhere during the summer, and we love to have 'em here. If any of you are ever planning a trip to Alaska, let me know please.

 

[Nuc]

Tourism is in contention with commercial fishing and crabbing, as well as anything else, for the biggest industry in Alaska. I know from experience, tourists are everywhere during the summer, and we love to have 'em here. If any of you are ever planning a trip to Alaska, let me know please.

Alaska is beautiful and a great place to visit. But when those giant cruise ships disgorge 50,000 people on Juneau it's kind of ridiculous.

 

[Semper Fi]

Alaska is beautiful and a great place to visit. But when those giant cruise ships disgorge 50,000 people on Juneau it's kind of ridiculous.

Ridiculous yes, but a few days of being overwhelmed by tourists does a heck of a lot for the economy.

 

[KarlMarx]

I'm curious, do Alaskans still call it "Mount McKinley" or do they now call it "Denali" (... come to think of it, did they ever call it "Mount McKinley")?

In the summer, on the weekends, do Alaskans sleep in? After all, it doesn't matter what time you get up, there's still plenty of daylight left!

Similarly, how do you handle the constant darkness in the winter? I have a tough time trying to stay motivated during the winter when there are a few hours of daylight, I can't imagine being motivated to get out of bed knowing that the rest of the day is going to be as dark as night!

 

[Semper Fi]

I'm curious, do Alaskans still call it "Mount McKinley" or do they now call it "Denali" (... come to think of it, did they ever call it "Mount McKinley")?

In the summer, on the weekends, do Alaskans sleep in? After all, it doesn't matter what time you get up, there's still plenty of daylight left!

Similarly, how do you handle the constant darkness in the winter? I have a tough time trying to stay motivated during the winter when there are a few hours of daylight, I can't imagine being motivated to get out of bed knowing that the rest of the day is going to be as dark as night!

Very good questions...
I have only lived in Alaska since March of 2001. I refer to the actual mountain itself as Mount McKinley, most of the time. There is a Denali National Park in which the rock is in, so when most of my friends mention Denali, they mean the park and/or the road going through it (Parks Highway) to get to Anchorage or Valdez. A lot of hardcore natives refer to it as Denali, I guess it depends on who I am talking to and what I am actually referring to. For instance, I would say "He climbed McKinley", and "He backpacked in Denali". Does that make sense?

In the summer, of course I sleep in, any time away from school with nothing to wake up for is precious time to me, though I am getting it under control. Alot of Alaskans sleep in all the time, alot wake up really early and jog or go to jobs or whatnot. I havent noticed any significant trends as far as wakeup times, but I have noticed one thing. Peopel stay out late, its not uncommon to be driving home at 2 in the morning from fishing or whatnot and see people staggering home from bars or coming home from their own outdoor excursions. Oh yeah, the outdoors is BIG in Alaska, hopefully you can understand why .

As for the winter, it is quite differant. Between school and wrestling I very rarely see the sun during the week, and if I sleep in on the weekends I miss it. Sounds funny but it's true. This causes depression in a lot of people, as lack of sun causes lack of vitamin D and seratonin, which leads to a chemical imbalance and can lead to the winter being a very low point. To combat this, there are things called "happy lights" or "sad lights", kind of a big differance in words, but they do the same thing. What it is is a big flourecent light (at least I think it's florecent) that you turn on and sit next to, perhaps while eating breakfast, for about a half hour or so. This gives your body the sereatonin you need to get right back in the game! Now this could be placebo effect, but we got one and I do believe it worked for me, then again around the same time, I was adapting to my dad's deployment and thus increasing in mood.

Also, I've noticed there are a lot of social acitivites that help the general population. A lot of plays go on, other wierd things and the like. A lot of times the city trys to make light of the darkness (no pun intended) by putting on dog sled shows, snowmachine races (or snowmobiles to all of you outsiders ). Personally, I adore the darkness and solitude of the moonlight reflecting off of the snow when it's really cold outside (when Im in my warm house looking out, that is), but winters can be pretty brutal.

And I almost forgot, skiing (xc and downhill) and snowboarding are BIG here, especially among youth.