Seward and its chamber weigh a study of how much tourism money stays in town

Seward's Planning and Zoning Commission and the Seward Chamber of Commerce board met Tuesday to talk about paying for a study of what tourism is worth to the town, and the questions they raised showed how little hard data the town has.

Tourism is Seward's main economic driver, Community Development Director Daniel Meuninck said, but residents also want a town that works year-round. When the city surveyed residents for its comprehensive plan update, he said, opinion on tourism's future split fairly evenly among holding steady, growing moderately and growing rapidly. "There's really no one saying like, take it away," he said.

The chamber's president, who owns a summer tourism business, said cruise passengers often arrive a couple of days before sailing, but the chamber doesn't know how many stay in Seward rather than Anchorage. "A lot of what we hear and what we understand is all word of mouth and anecdotally and not fact," she said.

Others asked about money that leaves. One person asked whether a study could track wages paid to seasonal J-1 workers who take their pay home. Commission Chair Clare Sullivan said people from elsewhere buy homes and run short-term rentals in town, and "that money winds up leaving."

A chamber board member who owns a brewery pushed back on the idea that seasonal businesses are to blame for winter closures. "My building is enormous. I cannot heat that thing for human occupancy through the winter and not drain my everything that I made over the summer," the owner said, adding that there isn't the winter workforce to cook, wash dishes and clean.

Heather Haugland, a vice president of McKinley Research Group, which has studied Alaska tourism since 1985, described how such a study works. It would count jobs, wages and spending tied to tourism, including money tourism businesses spend locally and money their workers spend on groceries and gas, along with sales tax, bed tax and cruise line payments to the city. She recommended counting Alaskans who visit Seward, not just out-of-state tourists.

She guessed a study would cost "in the $30,000 to $40,000 sort of realm," and said a smaller scope was possible. A study of 2026 would have to wait until mid-2027 for state and federal data. Measuring what tourism costs the city, such as extra garbage and staff time, would be a separate and time-consuming study, she said.

No decision was made. Meuninck said the session was meant to help the city know "what to put out in an RFP process," the request for proposals it would use to seek bids, and Haugland asked for a list of what the city wants a study to answer.

The town is also bracing for growth. The chamber's president pointed to new housing and the Coast Guard, which plans to base a fast response cutter and one of its new Arctic Security Cutters in Seward, Alaska News reported in August. The updated comprehensive plan is expected to go out for public review around the new year.