Travel Juneau Releases Results of Convention and Visitor Surveys

JUNEAU—Travel Juneau, the destination marketing organization for Alaska’s capital city, released its 2018-2019 Convention Survey and 2018 Visitor Survey, both conducted by McDowell Group.

Economic impacts of Juneau conventions and meetings revealed total direct spending for meetings at $2.7 million and a total of $3.6 million in indirect and induced economic impacts. Meetings held from 2017-2018 generated approximately $113,000 in sales tax to the City and Borough of Juneau. The survey also highlighted satisfaction for Juneau’s friendliness as a community and Travel Juneau’s services to planners.

“We can’t underestimate the value of meetings and conventions to the city in terms of new dollars,” noted Travel Juneau President & CEO, Liz Perry.

McDowell Group also completed a visitor survey during the 2018 season, focused on independent travelers arriving by air or ferry. The top three activities include visiting the Mendenhall Glacier, shopping, and hiking or nature walking. Respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with community friendliness, their overall Juneau experience, and tours or activities. McDowell Group calculated average visitor spending at $704 per person, per trip for those arriving by air, and $440 for those arriving by ferry.

Nearly half (46%) of those surveyed had been to Juneau before and roughly the same number cited friends, family or co-workers as sources of Juneau information, among other sources.

“Word of mouth is extremely important in the travel industry, and these findings indicate that our visitors are having a quality Juneau experience that they’re sharing with friends and family. This generates more interest in the destination,” Perry said.  

Both survey reports can be found on the Travel Juneau website, https://www.traveljuneau.com/about-travel-juneau/.