assessment – International Institute of Tourism Studies

Lovely, once-sleepy Ketchikan has evolved into the Gateway to Alaska and Salmon Capital of the World. Set within the Tongass National Forest on Revillagigedo Island in a salt-water channel, Ketchikan is a steep and narrow town with a creek running through it and a mountain rising immediately east of downtown. Bursting with natural beauty and cultural heritage, it has become one of Alaska’s most popular cruise ship stops.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of cruise passengers visiting Ketchikan began to overwhelm the town. In 2019, cruise visitors outnumbered the 14,000 locals 88 to 1. While the 2020 cruise season was cut short and the 2021 season canceled, cruise visitation made a strong comeback in 2022 with arrivals anticipated to match or pass the 2019 season.

Recognizing that the impressive rate of tourism rebound and constant outpouring of cruise visitors could overwhelm their small community, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough (KGB) government partnered with Confluence Sustainability and the GW IITS to evaluate the state of tourism in Ketchikan and help create a plan to sustain tourism, the top industry, while protecting the local people, land, and culture that makes Ketchikan such a desirable destination.

KGB Planning Director Richard Harney captured the essence of the project: “Ketchikan is a host community. Hosting and entertaining people from all over the world is what we do and who we are. We, as a community, invite people to Ketchikan so we can share our culture and heritage, but over the years, we as a community have somewhat forgotten this as the single-day visitors have overwhelmed some of the community. GW IITS has been a huge help to our community in figuring out what tourism looks like in the future. I am excited about where we have come from and where this process will take us.”

The GW IITS began working with the KGB in January 2022 to complete a destination assessment and formulate the Ketchikan Tourism Strategy (KTS).

The first phase of this project included a situation analysis evaluating the current state of tourism and sustainability in the destination. Next, the situation analysis was validated during an onsite visit in July 2022 where nearly 85 local stakeholders engaged in focus groups, interviews, and community meetings (with roughly 300 more participating in this meeting on Facebook live). Simultaneously to stakeholder meetings, a resident survey was conducted to evaluate resident sentiment towards tourism, and a visitor review analysis was completed using online reviews from Tripadvisor to gain visitors’ perspectives. Residents in Ketchikan recognize the importance of tourism in the economy but feel that it can negatively impact traffic and congestion, the natural environment, and more. Tourism management is an important factor for the future of Ketchikan, and residents would like to be actively engaged in this process.

*Richard Harney, Planning Director of the KGB, addresses tourism stakeholders during a KTS workshop*

After evaluating stakeholder, resident and visitor responses, the situation analysis was updated and the GW IITS/Confluence Sustainability team returned to Ketchikan in October 2022 to conduct visioning and planning workshops. Attended by 46 tourism stakeholders, the workshops prioritized key issues previously identified and discussed some potential solutions. To enhance the validity of those discussions with a larger sample, the GW IITS/Confluence Sustainability team set up a table at a local art walk event, an additional opportunity to meet with members of the community and engage another 50+ residents on their views about key tourism issues.

*Residents share their perspectives on tourism issues during the Ketchikan art walk*

Between the site visits, key meetings were held with local governance entities including the Ketchikan Indian Community, the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau, the City of Ketchikan, the KGB, and the Chamber of Commerce. A Steering Committee and Community Advisory Committee were regularly consulted throughout the planning process.

The development of the Ketchikan Tourism Strategy will be completed in Spring 2023, including an implementation plan and toolkit to guide Ketchikan to a more sustainable tourism future. For the dedicated community that lives and loves Ketchikan, it’s a key step toward protecting their treasured resources and rich heritage while maintaining a thriving tourism economy.

Post by Taylor Ruoff

The International Institute of Tourism Studies provides Master of Tourism Administration students with unique opportunities to participate in ongoing research and consulting projects that support sustainable tourism development all over the world. Last year, recent graduate Taylor Ruoff went to Belize City to work on a project designed to help the country better manage its growing influx of visitors and their impact on the country's resources. Here are her reflections on the experience and the future of tourism in Belize.

Belize City is not only the country’s largest urban area, but also serves as its commercial and cultural epicenter, and the main port of call for cruise tourism. Nearly 850,000 passengers arrived by ship last year to explore the country’s barrier reef, offshore islands, cave systems and Mayan archaeological sites.

While the industry has grown steadily and fostered entrepreneurship and economic growth in Belize, tourism is bringing an influx of people to the city, which is increasing pressure on resources, infrastructure, transportation and other services. Despite noticeable improvements in recent years, “crime-ridden”, “unsafe”, and “dangerous” are adjectives commonly used by outsiders when describing the city, and the reason that a number of tourists don’t ever venture past the port.

ASSESSING THE SITUATION

To help Belize City identify and overcome these challenges and plan for a sustainable future, I recently participated in the development of a destination assessment and sustainability plan. Along with International Institute of Tourism Studies Executive Director Seleni Matus and fellow graduate student Amanda Reiser—as well as Belize’s Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Board, industry associations, conservationists, tour operators, attraction managers, and other key local stakeholders—we helped to facilitate dialogue and exchange between these different groups. While they are key influencers and decision-makers, they're often not at the same table when it comes to discussing tourism.

“This sustainability assessment, the first ever of its kind for Belize, is a great step in elevating the importance and path towards responsible development and management within our cruise destinations,” noted Abil Castañeda, Chief Tourism Officer for the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation of Belize.

SOCIAL MEDIA LISTENING

As part of the assessment, a team of graduate students from George Washington University’s Master of Tourism Administration program analyzed reviews on TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic to better understand visitor perceptions of the destination. “Our results revealed that visitors appreciated the wealth of knowledge and stellar service provided by local Belizean guides, and greatly enjoy the diverse natural tourism products the destination has to offer,” shared Reiser. “However, visitors also noted that a lack of accessibility, safety issues, and overcrowding at some popular attractions and sites degraded their overall experience, which was further confirmed by our site visits while in-country.”

In May, the GW team presented the results of the social media analysis and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council Destination Assessment in Belize City. We also facilitated the development of a sustainability action plan with input from local stakeholders. As a result, stakeholders agreed that in the near-term, they would take measures to better understand and mitigate against the negative impacts of tourism on visitor attractions and natural sites. For example, we discussed the production of guidelines to protect and properly interact with wildlife. Stakeholders also agreed to drive local action and policy-making around tourism development more generally by, for instance, measuring maximum capacities and limiting visitation to minimize overcrowding.

THE FUTURE OF CRUISE TOURISM

Following the assessment, the Belize Tourism Board held the country’s first cruise conference this past August, which brought together cruise line executives from Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, and other cruise tourism experts to discuss new trends and key issues pertaining to the sustainability of the industry and Belize. I had the opportunity to present the findings of our team’s online visitor perception assessment at the event, stressing the importance of tracking visitor experiences to better address safety, accessibility, and overcrowding challenges at popular attractions and sites. The assessment and conference are major milestones for Belize and are part of a larger effort to promote destination stewardship and cruise tourism sustainability throughout the country.

This destination sustainability assessment of Belize City was sponsored by the GSTC, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) with funding and support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Tag: assessment

Creating a Tourism Strategy to Sustain Unique, Thriving Ketchikan, Alaska