Tourism drought causes Fairbanks business to dry up
Originally published Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 12:00 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 2:48 p.m.
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FAIRBANKS — On a typical summer evening, Chena Marina RV Park owner Suzanne Spanjer could count on meeting new friends from all over the world on the grassy lawns in her own backyard.
Sometimes she’d fire up a barbecue, other times watch with her traveling guests as float planes bounced onto the glassy lake at the park edge.
Many of her visitors would become repeat clients, and some became more than that. She met fiancé Bill Wileman — now the business’s chief operating officer — through the RV park. Wileman’s daughter connected with a traveler staying at the park and later married him.
Those days are over.
After 16 years in business, Spanjer decided to close the park for good Aug. 9. Costs are at all-time highs and tourism has trickled to nearly nothing — at least, tourism as she and other independent operators know it.
There’s a new tourist zeroing in on Alaska.
The state will probably remain on many travelers’ top-10 lists, Spanjer said. But families and retirees are having a harder time affording the drive from the Lower 48, and foreigners are arriving by plane and ship.
“People are still coming, but they’re not driving up the road,” Spanjer said. “Nobody is out on the roads. They’re gone.”
Jeff Sherouse is Port of Entry Director at the Alaska Highway border crossing, where most over-the-road vacationers enter Alaska. Crossings from Canada are down nearly 20 percent when compared with the same year-to-date period in 2007, and he’s seeing changes in the type of traffic, too.
As of Friday, 7,050 vehicles with 16,000 people had crossed into Alaska in 2008, compared to 8,747 vehicles with 19,668 passengers for the same time period last year.
“In previous years, you always saw a lot of motor homes,” Sherouse said. “What we’re seeing this year is more of people moving up.”
His perception is that quite a few of those making the transition are involved with the military.
Also absent are long queues of idling vehicles headed back into Canada, he said.
“Trends have changed a little,” he said. “The biggest cause is the fuel prices — that’s the biggest thing we hear when people come in.”
Motor home traffic seems to be changing in character as well, he said. Instead of vacationers from the Lower 48, he’s seeing increases in European and other travelers who fly into Whitehorse, Yukon, rent RVs, and tour the roads of Yukon and Alaska before boarding a flight home from Anchorage or Fairbanks.
Mike Busby, owner of Chicken Gold Camp in Chicken, said business at the end of the road is down about 10 percent from an exceptional 2007. But business is going pretty well thanks in part to recent adaptations like recreational gold mining that make Chicken a destination, rather than a stop along the way.
“We’re a little more diversified,” he explained. “We’re getting a lot of Alaskan travelers.”
Some establishments along the more well-traveled road trails aren’t quite able to draw business as a destination. Sherouse said he’s hearing plenty of tourists talk about restaurants, lodges and gas stations along the Alaska Highway that have closed for the season.
“A lot of them didn’t even open this year,” Sherouse pointed out. “That was a big problem; you could go 100 miles without seeing a place. The biggest gripes we’ve heard are fuel prices and there’s nowhere to stay.”
At milepost 1083 of the Alaska Highway, about halfway between Tok and Whitehorse, Loren Maluorno owns and operates Destruction Bay RV Lodge on the shores of Kluane Lake. Despite the scenery, vacationers are passing the place by, Maluorno said. His business is down at least 30 percent this year, and he hears plenty of talk from other operators who are closing down early.
He planned on some decrease — at least 10 percent — because of the politically heated election year.
That’s right — in his 15 years of lodge ownership, he’s learned that Lower 48 business drops like clockwork with election cycles. Add to that the high costs of fuel plus an entire season of record rainy, cold weather, and visitor totals are grim.
“It’s been hard on the customers,” Maluorno said. “They’re not staying as long in places. They’re not spending the money, and they’re driving right by.”
He hired two fewer employees this year, tightened restaurant hours, will close for the season two weeks early and made fewer property improvements.
“You just buckle up and weather the storm,” Maluorno said.
The storm isn’t raging quite as bad closer to Fairbanks, where Teffonie Wyman is part of the Santaland RV Park ownership team. She estimated traffic at the North Pole business is down around 10 percent, with a higher percentage than normal of visitors from places within the state, such as Palmer and Anchorage.
At Chena Marina, Spanjer won’t be leaving town.
But she’s tired of reacting to conditions instead of planning for the future — and the worst offender, high fuel costs, is well beyond her control.
“We did all the right things, and it did us absolutely no good,” Spanjer said. “It hasn’t been paying for itself.”
Instead, she’s adapting the business to accommodate the new types of tourists, and will continue renting a pool of three travel trailers and eight motorhomes. Next year, look for caravan packages offered through Adventures in Alaska RV Rentals. A few park sites at Chena Marina RV Park will be made available for long-term summer rent, although the guest facilities — bathrooms and showers, laundry and a social room — are closed for good.
Community Discussion
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Why boycott Sourdough Fuel? Aren't they an Alaskan owned company? I'd rather spend my money there than at, say, Fred Meyer or Safeway. As far as I know, those two are out of state companies. Anyway...I like the customer service at Sourdough. So I won't be joining any boycott, sorry.
Fairbanksgas you have lost any credibility you may have had. Buy advertising time if you want to promote your website, I am sure you are making money off of it. Daily newsminer hasn't this user abused the users agreement enough.
The only reason I would boycott Sourdough fuel is the fact that their pumps never have receipts. I guess it is not a real "boycott", but, if you are going to make me pay in advance at the pump I feel as if there should be a receipt printing out at the pump.
I am not sure what Fairbanksgas said up above - it was removed before I got up.
On topic, can you imagine being a tourist and driving across the border into the land of oil abundancy and finding the gas price to be over $1.00/gal more than where you came from.
You get a receipt at the pump if you pay with plastic, otherwise WALK inside and ask for one.
The HEAVY influx of tourists is EXACTLY why I no longer pay "utility bills" (I live off the grid) and AWAY from the tourists.
btw, Chena Marina RV Park looks better when it's not packed with rv's
The problem with all these places in Alaska, is the fact that they only think of promoting tourism to outside of Alaska tourists. My family and I love traveling down to Valdez when we can, and if we are treated well and get some good deals, we go back to the same businesses. Places around Fairbanks should consider this as well, they might even make up for the loss of revenue, if they would cater to the people that already live in the local area and offer them some deals.
I believe that fairbanksgas does have an agenda but its not to promote a website ( non profit web site I might add ) His agenda looks to me like he wants Fairbanks to understand that there are things that we can do as residents that will help our selves, and gives us all a direction to go when fighting for lower fuel prices.
smartntvmama, you got a good point there.
smartntvmama---why is everyone always looking for a handout? These business have to make money. If the people in Fairbanks were interested in supporting local business they would frequent these places regardless.
I thought she said good deal not handout?
As long as we are getting good deals (i.e. discounts, freebies, handouts) we will keep coming back. You can sugar coat it anyway you like, but it is still asking for something for free.
I believe to call for a boycott of one company and not all selling the same product, a specific agenda. Where does this 'nonprofit" identify in their web exactly who thy are, names. They sure ask for money. Can someone tell me where I can find out the information as to who are behind this "non profit" and where the names of the board members are, and their mission statements, etc. Again, I believe they are misusing the purpose of this comment section, pay for an ad and stick to the user's agreement.Thank you.
PahoaSean, I think the point isn't where the gas comes from, but where the profits go *to.*
As for driving to Alaska, it's worth bearing in mind that, even before gas prices went up and the U.S. dollar got weak against the Canadian, the question of crossing the U.S.-Canada border has been of some concern in the last few years.
I haven't crossed a border since 1999; are the crossing rules still a lot more strict these days, or have they been relaxed?
I have long wondered why so many businesses all over the state cater to the military and out of state tourists with % discounts on every thing from auto parts to RV parking. My husband and I would spend a lot more time all over this state if we were catered to a little. We hunt, fish, snowmachine, 4-wheel, trap, etc. but it is expensive to stay sometimes, so we don't. My husband and I are Alaska lifers and do heartely support the military. Just a little recognition for an Alaska drivers license.
lagirl...Is respect and being treated with good customer service the same thing as a handout? A smile and good service is what gets my family dealing with a particular business or businessman or businesswoman, over and over. You know, I haven't been involved in responding on this newminer blog for very long now, but I have to say I'm very disappointed in some of the non-sense that is written here. While I realize, this is a place for people to speak their minds and opinions, and we all enjoy the freedom of speech we have been entitled to, I sure wish folks would think about what they are about to say and write before posting their comments on this forum.
Check your information. Sourdough Fuel is not locally owned these days. I once was a loyal customer in the days they were. They changed owners. Fairbanks Gas has nothing to gain with his website he is actually trying to help most of us and lower Interior gas prices while doing so. All of you I think would agree it is ridiculous that we have the highest prices in the nation with the pipeline in our own backyard. I do not shop Sourdough stores very often and only buy fuel from them in a pinch. Prices are much better at Sams/Safeway and Freds.
Back on topic, it is a shame that some local rv parks are hurting but I do not miss the tourists and traffic one bit. I do not have the time and patience to tolerate the road barns.
Pat
Sordough fuel is as close as you can get to Saudi Arabia without wearing the TURBINS. Take as much money as you can from the working class and never give them a break.I liked it better when Bernie Karl owned it. Every customer was a human being instead of just an account number.
It appears I was mistaken. I had heard they were now owned out of state. All the more reason to target them for the price fixing. They are ASRC owned and laughing all the way to the bank.
http://www.petrostar.com/home/home.asp?p...
Pat
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