Study: More see tourism's positive side

Juneau's opinion of tourism has improved in the past four years, but many people think the city should be doing more to manage the industry, according to a new survey released last week.

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The city hired the McDowell Group, a Juneau-based research firm, to conduct the random telephone survey of 514 local households in mid-October.

Among the findings:

• 75 percent of those surveyed think the impacts of tourism have increased in the past five years.

• Congestion downtown and flightseeing noise continue to be leading concerns.

• One-half of those surveyed think the city isn't doing enough to manage tourism. One-third think the city is doing the right amount.

The company conducted similar surveys for the city in 1995 and 1998. In general, fewer people were undecided about tourism issues this time, researcher Eric McDowell told Assembly members on Tuesday.

Tourism survey

Considering the costs and benefits, what impact does the current level of tourism in Juneau have on your household?

• Positive impact 40%

• Negative impact 6%

• Both positive and negative 37%

• No impact 15%

• Not sure 1%

Do you think the city is doing enough, not enough, or just the right amount to manage the impacts of tourism?

• More than enough 6%

• Not enough 52%

• Just the right amount 34%

• Don't know 7%

"Compared to '95, there are a lot less people saying, 'I don't know,' " he said.

The number of cruise ship passengers visiting Juneau has increased from 380,000 in 1995 to about 719,000 this year.

According to this year's survey results, 40 percent of respondents think tourism has a positive impact on their household. Thirty-seven percent think tourism has positive and negative impacts.

In 1998, 29 percent of those surveyed felt tourism had a positive impact, compared to 34 percent in 1995.

Congestion downtown and flightseeing noise topped the list of concerns for those surveyed. Four in 10 people surveyed thought pedestrian traffic downtown could be decreased, while an equal number thought levels could be maintained, McDowell said.

"Clearly, it's your No. 1 management issue," he said.

As for helicopter flightseeing, 21 percent of those surveyed thought it could be increased, 48 percent thought it could be maintained, and 23 percent thought it could be decreased. Twenty-two percent thought floatplane flightseeing could be increased, 54 percent thought it could be maintained, and 14 percent thought it could be decreased.

People generally were more favorable to increases in day-boat and charter-fishing tours, McDowell said.

People were nearly split when asked if they would support an increase in cruise ship passengers if wider sidewalks, a seawalk or other infrastructure improvements were made downtown. Under that scenario, 48 percent said they would support more cruise ship passengers, while 46 percent said no.

Forty-six percent of respondents preferred the number of cruise ship passengers visiting Juneau stay the same. Nine percent favored a major decrease, while 12 percent favored a major increase.

As for the city's role, 52 percent of respondents thought the city wasn't doing enough to manage tourism's impacts while 34 percent thought it was doing just fine.

After hearing the results, Deputy Mayor Ken Koelsch said the city has set aside a half-million dollars for flightseeing-noise abatement and needs to come up with some sort of plan. He also listed an ordinance to "unclutter" downtown sidewalks as a priority.

The city paid $15,000 for the survey, and the margin of error was 4.5 percent. The report is available on the city's Web site at www.juneau.org/tourism.

Joanna Markell can be reached at joannam@juneauempire.com.