State economic development officials say they hope to offer guidance to visitor enterprises in rural Alaska through a rural tourism mentorship program now being developed.
The program, funded with $95,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $30,000 in state funds, will offer advice in business planning, best practices, budget management, Web site development, capitalization and funding strategies, tour packaging, marketing and other requested areas of emphasis.
The focus will be on bed and breakfasts, and tour guide firms.
"We are targeting 10 people to finish the (18-month) program," said Caryl McConkie, an economic development specialist with the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. The agency is seeking mentors and potential rural partners to participate in helping start-ups and businesses in operation for less than two years.
Program funds will be used for transportation for mentors to the rural business sites and for those enrolled in the program to go to established business sites of their mentors and have job shadowing experiences, McConkie said.
Bill Allen, director of the state Office of Economic Development, said many economically distressed regions of Alaska possess immense potential for future cultural, ecotourism and recreational opportunities. "There's still a lot of untapped potential for rural Alaska to develop their visitor product," he said.
"A mentorship program is a win-win for the industry. Working together, we can ensure visitors have a good experience at every destination, so they'll take their positive stories back home and entice friends and relatives to visit later."
OED is launching the program with the aim of building on the achievements of the agency's Developing Alaska Rural Tourism program, co-funded with the Economic Development Administration. The DART program focuses on assisting Alaska's rural regions in developing local visitor industry through targeted technical training and workshops. The program serves a number of rural community members who were committed to developing the visitor industry in their regions, state officials said.
Information on the program is available from Dru Garson, tourism development specialist, at Dru_garson@commerce.state.ak.us.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
