Local Businesses Shape Anchorage Tourism

The best way to experience Anchorage is often through the people who live here.

They’re the locals who know which trail to walk after work, where to find a memorable meal, and how to introduce visitors to the deep-rooted culture and neighborhoods that make the city distinctive.

For Holly Spoth-Torres, co-owner of Snob Hollow Inn, tourism grew naturally from a sense of place.

“I care about the places that I am, and I want to share that with other people.”

Rather than creating a visitor experience separate from everyday life, entrepreneurs like Holly invite visitors into the places they already value. The result is a more personal and authentic way to experience Anchorage, one shaped by local knowledge and genuine enthusiasm.

Investing in Anchorage

Holly’s connection to tourism began more than two decades ago, when she and her sister worked as housekeepers in Denali National Park. After later working for the National Park Service and the city’s parks department, Holly was looking for opportunities to invest in downtown Anchorage.

She and her husband first purchased the historic Mayor’s house. Later, they acquired the property next door that became Snob Hollow Inn.

The property originally consisted of four units and needed significant work. With the location being downtown, Holly and her family saw an opportunity to restore the building and expand it to eight units while contributing to the surrounding neighborhood.

The improvements included a new roof, fresh paint, landscaping, and work to protect the building envelope. Holly estimates that the two businesses operating in the area support approximately 11 jobs: three full-time employees and three part-time housekeepers at Snob Hollow Inn, with five full-time employees working with Holly’s landscape architecture business Huddle AK next door.

“We took a block that hadn’t had maintenance and gave both properties a total facelift,” Holly says.

The result is a mix of modern lodging, historic character, and neighborhood investment, exactly the kind of place Holly believes appeals to both residents and visitors.

“People want to come experience life as we live it [here],” she says.

Locally Owned, Personally Guided

Shane McHale, founder of Blueberry Tours, also built a business around personal roots to Alaska.

Shane’s introduction to the tourism industry began with an internship at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. A love of the outdoors and a desire to share Alaska Native culture eventually led to the creation of Blueberry Tours.

For Shane, entrepreneurship provides the ability to present Alaska in a way that feels genuine.

“It allows me the freedom to express who I am and what I give,” Shane says, “in the way I want to present myself in the industry.”

That flexibility allows Blueberry Tours to respond directly to guests. Shane can test new ideas, listen to visitor feedback, and shape the experience around meaningful conversations rather than a fixed script.

The tours also help bring greater visibility to the contributions of Alaska Native people across the state. Shane says many visitors are unfamiliar with the scale of Alaska Native corporations, the services they provide, and the continuing connections many people maintain to traditional life, rural communities, and subsistence.

Growing Together

For both entrepreneurs, working with Visit Anchorage has played an important role in helping their businesses grow.

As small operators, Holly and Shane benefit from the visibility, connections, and resources available through their involvement with Visit Anchorage. Those resources help amplify their business alongside larger, established companies and be discovered by both independent visitors and travel professionals.

Holly recalls feeling immediately welcomed when Snob Hollow Inn began working with the organization. Visit Anchorage provides opportunities to connect with other businesses, participate in industry events, and host travel professionals through familiarization, or FAM tours.

“It felt like somebody rolled out the red carpet for us when we became a member,” she mentions.

Shane credits an event at the Visitor Information Center with providing some of Blueberry Tours’ earliest meaningful exposure and helping generate its first tours. The company broke even in the first year, creating a foundation for future growth.

That kind of support is central to Visit Anchorage’s role in the community.

The organization helps spotlight local businesses as visitors plan their dream trip and residents think about their next weekend outing. Visit Anchorage runs Anchorage.net, one of the state’s most popular travel websites, publishes the Official Guide to Anchorage, Local Flavor Restaurant and Entertainment Guide, educates travel advisors, helps Anchorage companies make connections with global travel brands, and places ads that generate millions of impressions while elevating Anchorage across the country. The Visitor Information Center also welcomes tens of thousands of people each year. Visit Anchorage’s network gives small operators like Snob Hollow Inn and Blueberry Tours more opportunities to be discovered.

That visibility benefits more than individual businesses. By connecting visitors with local operators, the organization helps direct tourism dollars to support the people who live and work in Anchorage. When businesses improve a property, create jobs, share local history and some of their favorite things about Anchorage, they strengthen the destination for everyone.

Through Visit Anchorage, those businesses have a platform to share what makes the community special. Anchorage’s tourism industry is locally grown: built by people who live here, invest here, and care deeply about the city’s future.

Learn more about Visit Anchorage, explore membership benefits, and discover opportunities to promote your business alongside Anchorage’s homegrown tourism community.