Alaska using discounts to lure visitors

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two-for-one deals and other discounts are being offered at two of Alaska's most popular national parks in a pitch to get visitors to consider the land of the midnight sun in springtime.

During the busiest summer months last year, the state received 1.63 million out-of-state visitors who collectively spent $1.5 billion, with 1.3 million of those guests in Alaska on vacation, according to the Alaska Office of Tourism Development.

While "No Vacancy" signs sprout like fireweed around Alaska in June, July and August, that's not the case in May. Two companies that cater to visitors would like to change that.

In an effort to jumpstart the tourism season, visitors are being offered discounts for accommodations near Denali National Park and Preserve in interior Alaska, and inside Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in southeast Alaska. Denali is the fifth most popular tourist destination in Alaska, followed by Glacier Bay.

The idea is to entice visitors to the parks a bit earlier, said Dawn Williams, sales manager for Denali Park Resorts.

Visitors mistakenly think that Alaska is too chilly in May, preferring instead to visit during the peak months of June and July, Williams said. But the weather actually can be very nice with temperatures reaching into the 70s, she said.

"I think looking at the weather report the other day, we were 2 degrees warmer than Orlando, Florida," she said, laughing when reminded Florida was in a severe cold snap at the time.

Williams said even weather in the 50s and 60s can be nice.

How about 44 degrees? That's the average daily temperature from May 1 to June 1 at the Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66 on the park road inside Denali National Park, according to Scott Berg, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.

But Berg agreed with Williams. On warm spring days, it can go into the 70s, especially nearer to the park entrance, he said.

Denali National Park, 175 miles from Anchorage — home to Mount McKinley, North America's highest mountain at 20,320 feet — expects to get more than 425,000 visitors this year, with most of them showing up between June and August.

May in the 6 million-acre park is slower, with the scene still a bit wintry. The park's visitor center will open May 15. The entire length of the park road is not expected to be open and passable until June 8.