Sitka launches voluntary tourism management program July 1

Sitka's Tourism Best Management Practices program takes effect Wednesday, giving residents, businesses, and tour operators a shared framework for managing visitor impacts at the height of cruise season.

The City and Borough of Sitka Tourism Task Force developed the guidelines through input from local business owners, tour operators, Sitka Tribe of Alaska, and the broader community. The program is voluntary. It asks visitor-industry participants to follow practices that, according to the program's website, promote tourism that "respects the community, cultural heritage, and environment." The city says the program benefits both visitors and the people who live and work in Sitka.

The launch comes as Sitka's cruise season runs at full pace. Under a memorandum of agreement with participating cruise lines, the city caps daily passenger arrivals at 7,000 and designates Saturdays as a quiet day with fewer than 1,250 passengers. The TBMP program sits alongside that agreement as an industry-led, voluntary complement to the cruise passenger limits.

Sitka Tribe of Alaska, which hosts an annual Heritage and Cultural Tourism Conference focused on sustaining cultural and heritage tourism, was among the voices that shaped the guidelines.

Sitka joins Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway in operating a TBMP program. The Skagway program describes its aim as fostering "regional collaboration to provide a higher standard of Tourism Best Management Practices throughout Southeast Alaska."

Residents can submit feedback on visitor industry practices by email at [email protected] or by voicemail at 907-747-4088. The city says community observations, concerns, and suggestions will help inform future updates to the program. Full guidelines are posted at www.tbmpsitka.com.