18 August 2010 LeisureGroupTravel.com A sk your travelers what destina- tions are on their bucket list, and certainly Alaska is going to rank at or near the top. And the vacation most typically associated with Alaska is a cruise. This was defi- nitely my mindset before I had traveled to our 49th state, and while I enjoyed the cruise on my first visit, it wasn’t until I got off the ship that I experi- enced the essence of Alaska. Likewise, many Alaska vacationers feel they’ve tackled the state after they’ve taken that Inside Passage or Gulf of Alaska cruise. What a surprise awaits them when they too get off the boat. I recently had the opportunity to travel back to Alaska, courtesy of the Globus family of brands and their Platinum Producers conference, an exclusive event for their top group customers. The trip was hosted by Premier Alaska Tours, Globus’ land partner, with support from DMOs, hotels, attractions and restaurants. It was 11 years since my last visit to the Land of the Midnight Sun. The first trip was courtesy of Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam when we took the last cruise of the season from Package tours showcase the best of America’s Last Frontier The majesty of tidewater glaciers enthralls ferry and cruise boat passengers in Prince William Sound. on location: west ❖ jeff gayduk
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18 August 2010 LeisureGroupTravel.com
Ask your travelers what destina-tions are on their bucket list,and certainly Alaska is goingto rank at or near the top.And
the vacation most typically associatedwith Alaska is a cruise. This was defi-nitely my mindset before I had traveledto our 49th state, and while I enjoyedthe cruise on my first visit, it wasn’tuntil I got off the ship that I experi-
enced the essence of Alaska.Likewise, many Alaska vacationers
feel they’ve tackled the state afterthey’ve taken that Inside Passage orGulfof Alaska cruise.What a surprise awaitsthem when they too get off the boat.
I recently had the opportunity totravel back to Alaska, courtesy of theGlobus family of brands and theirPlatinum Producers conference, an
exclusive event for their top groupcustomers. The trip was hosted byPremier Alaska Tours, Globus’ landpartner, with support from DMOs,hotels, attractions and restaurants.
It was 11 years since my last visit tothe Land of the Midnight Sun. Thefirst trip was courtesy of HollandAmerica’s Nieuw Amsterdam when wetook the last cruise of the season from
Package tours showcase the best of America’s Last Frontier
The majesty of tidewater glaciers enthralls ferry and cruise boat passengers in Prince William Sound.
on location: west � jeff gayduk
Vancouver up through the Inside Pas-sage, disembarking in Seward. On thecruise, we experienced great scenery,first-class entertainment, delicious cui-sine and port calls that provided aglimpse of Sitka, Juneau, Wrangell andKetchikan, places that are now wel-coming thousands of cruise passengersper day. When our cruise was finished,we picked up our rental car and com-menced on our journey to Alaska’s in-
terior, taking in the most spectacularfall foliage scenery imaginable (notethat it was early September). Reflectingback on that trip, my most vivid mem-ories are not of the midnight buffet orLido deck, but of the unspoiled vistasthat awaited around nearly every curve.
Mike Schields, director of groupsales and emerging markets for theGlobus family of brands and a formercruise industry executive, commented,
“While the most common way formost people to see Alaska for the firsttime is on an Inside Passage cruise, themost comprehensive and exciting wayto see this great state is on the landpackages. On the many programs thatthe Globus family of brands offers, theopportunities to see wildlife and in-credible scenery are all magnified. Youcan see and touch Alaska close-up andalso have the opportunity to customizeyour experience with things like flight-seeing over glaciers, jet boats on themany rivers, fishing and hiking, andmore. From 8 to 80, Alaska has some-thing for everyone, and its potential,especially as a family destination, is un-matched.”
The comment was echoed by TimWorthen, CEO of Premier AlaskaTours. “The vast majority of our Alaskaguests travel on a cruise ship. Many addon extensive pre/post land tours in orderto get off the ship to touch and feel moreof Alaska.They want to see the animalsin Denali or get up closer to the moun-tains with a nice hike. Alaska is twice asbig as Texas so it is hard to experience itwithout traveling inland on a land tour.”(Worthen should know. A 25-year vet-eran of Alaska tourism, he’s seen the in-dustry grow up before his eyes.)
HOME BASE: ANCHORAGEFast forward to May 2010, I land in
Anchorage at 10 p.m. (yes, the sun isstill shining, somewhat disorienting).Anchorage is Alaska’s hub of passengerair traffic, with non-stop service toWest Coast gateways and seasonalservice to Chicago, Dallas and Min-neapolis. The airport is also a world-wide hub of air cargo due to its uniqueglobal location.
For its size (just under300,000) Anchorage is re-markably cosmopolitan.Retailers like Nordstrom,performing arts centers,live theater and a wide va-riety of upscale restaurantsrival that of a city three times its size.With its relatively flat terrain, Anchor-age is simple to navigate,but the views ofsix mountain ranges provide motivation
to go explore.Anchorage is also the epi-center of Southcentral Alaska and thejumping-off point for day tours to placeslike Prince William Sound, Valdez,Eagle River and Wasilla, the IditarodTrail Sled Dog Race headquarters.Departing on morning two, our
group traveled to Girdwood, then tookthe short drive to Whittier, where weembarked on the 26 Glaciers Cruise onPrince William Sound. As lunch wasserved onboard, our catamaran sped to-ward College Fjord, with glacial sight-ings and U.S. Forest Service rangercommentary en route. Wildlife sight-ings are never guaranteed, but our groupwas fortunate to encounter hundreds ofseals while they frolicked in the chillywaters. We also had a close encounterwith a glacier not ever experienced onlarge cruise ships. Our ship navigateddeftly through the ice with its reinforcedhull – we could almost touch the pass-ing glacial melt. The Kenai Peninsula is a popular
trip from Anchorage. In Kenai FjordsNational Park, glaciers, earthquakesand ocean storms are the architects. Iceworms, bears and whales make theirhome in this land of constant change.
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Cruise excursions reveal
the splendor of Kenai Fjords
in Southcentral Alaska.
Camera-toting tourists are always
on the lookout for whales and
other entertaining marine life on
Kenai Fjords cruises.
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Discover Kenai Fjords via a cruise andwildlife tour, or if your group desires toget up close and personal with a gla-cier, try glacier hikes or helicopterhikes. Guests need to be physically fitand dress appropriately for this once-in-a-lifetime experience, so it’s not foreveryone.
There’s a variety of float trips andwhitewater expeditions availablethroughout the area. Glacier DiscoveryTour includes a ride aboard the AlaskaRailroad from Anchorage to SpencerLake.After a brief transport, your groupis served lunch and then launched inrafts. Spencer Lake is full of crumbling
icebergs that are so close you can touchthem.Groups navigate the Placer Riverthrough Class I and II rapids that arefun but mild. As Worthen points out,“Many guests are now doing jet boatrides, flight-seeing, hiking, and I amamazed how many 65-year-olds dowhitewater rafting. The baby boomergeneration is a lot more adventurousand wants time to explore.”
HEADING NORTHAlaska’s Interior is the next stop for
most groups, including ours. This re-gion is home to Denali National Parkand Fairbanks, the state’s second largestpopulation center and epicenter of theAlaskan Gold Rush.
Getting to Denali takes a half-dayand you can either coach or take thetrain. We coached up and saved thebest for last as our return trip aboardthe Alaska Railroad was a memorymaker. Our GoldStar (an upgrade fortour groups) service included plushseating in an upper-level dome car, pri-ority seating in the lower-level diningroom and a private outdoor viewing
GLOBUS & COSMOS PROGRAMS
Both Globus and Cosmos have a varietyof tour programs in Alaska. According
to Stephanie Parr, director of contractingfor Globus, “Alaska is so much more thenthe ports of call visited by those travelingon cruise ships! Our interior packages helptravelers experience the destination andlearn about the incredible strength andhumor of the Alaskan people, their uniqueway of life, their connection to the beautifullandscape and their pride in their state.Globus family of brands partners with somany wonderful Alaskan companies toensure that you have an opportunity to experience bits of real Alaska!
“Globus is pleased to partner with incredible companies in Alaska, and as aresult of these partnerships is able to offer
authentic experiences for those wishing touncover Alaska. Whether it’s on one ofour Globus or Cosmos touring vacations,or independently with Monograms, weprovide memorable opportunities. Forgroups wishing to incorporate differentexperiences, we can also customize a landtour making it unique to your group.”
Here’s a rundown of the current Globus & Cosmos product:
GLOBUS
Spectacular Alaska!10 days from $2,579 land only; air-inclusive pricing availableAnchorage, Valdez, Fairbanks, Denali National Park
Nature’s Best: Alaska7 days from $1,949 land only; air-inclusive pricing availableFairbanks, Denali National Park, Anchorage
Ultimate Alaska & the Yukon13 days from $3,109 land only; air-inclusive pricing availableAnchorage, Denali National Park, Fairbanks, Dawson City, Whitehorse, Tok, Valdez
COSMOS
Alaskan Adventure14 days from $1,409 land only; air-inclusive pricing availableAnchorage, Fairbanks, Denali National Park
Alaska & the Yukon12 days from $2,219 land only; air-inclusive pricing available12 days from Anchorage, Tok, Whitehorse, Dawson City, Fairbanks, Denali National Park
Keep an eye out for wildlife on
bus tours of Denali National Park.
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A l a s k a R a i l r o a d . c o m
� e Alaska Railroad showcases adventure with a full summer schedule of day tours and vacation packages including stops at two National Parks. Travelers journey through alpine forests, coastal regions, and traverse two major mountain ranges – in a land twice the size of Texas. Ask about 10% discount for groups.
For information call 1-800-544-0552or (907) 265-2494.
ALASKAVacations begin here.
deck. There’s simply no better way totake in the mountain vistas, rivers andlakes, flowers and fauna than from thecomfort of the Alaska Railroad.
Denali is home to Mt. McKinley,the highest peak in North America at20,320 feet. Consider yourself lucky tosee the peak, as we were on our visit.“The Great One” (or “Denali” in thenative tongue) shows off its summitjust 20% of the time. Some 400,000visitors experience Denali NationalPark each year, mostly from Maythrough September. Although the parkis vast (roughly the size of Massachu-setts), automobile access is limited tothe first 15 miles for tourists. After astop at the welcome center, groups hopaboard the four-hour Denali NaturalHistory tour, or the eight-hour TundraWilderness excursion. Both programsare operated by the National ParkService aboard modified school buses.Certified driver/naturalist guides pro-vide rolling commentary on the historyof the park while keeping a keen eyeout for wildlife. Several interpretativestops along the way enhance the expe-rience, including the Wilderness Ac-cess Center, where the film Across Timeand Tundra is shown.
Worthen said, “When I started inthe travel industry 25 years ago inAlaska, all tours operated with just onenight in Denali National Park with theTundra Wilderness bus tour. Recentlymany of the tour patterns have changedto two nights in Denali because of somany great activities, and this is one ofthe highlights of a land tour.”
Alaska’s rich oil reserves and smallpopulation base pay big dividends
for its residents. Alaska takes care of its residents with perks like free collegetuition and the annual oil stipend. Fromoil funds in 2009, a check for $1,305was cut for every man, woman andchild in the state sans felons, provingonce again that crime doesn’t pay!
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THE RUSHTO FAIRBANKSAlthough our group didn’t make it
to Fairbanks, it’s a regular stop onGlobus’ Alaska itineraries. In 1902Italian immigrant Felix Pedro struck
gold just 16 miles north of Fairbanks.This event coincided with the buildingof a trading post on the banks of theChena River. The rush to Fairbankswas on, with prospectors flooding the
area to pan for gold. History lives ontoday with visitor attractions and mod-ern-day mining operations celebratingthe quest for gold. Groups can see thelargest display of gold at the Universityof Alaska’s Museum of the North, visitthe Pedro Monument in tribute to thatfirst discovery and try their hand atgold panning. Fairbanks is also one of the best
viewing spots for the aurora borealis,commonly referred to as the northernlights. These mysterious yellow, greenand red lights brighten the nighttimeskies in a colorful display as curtains ofcolored light in the upper atmosphere,caused by magnetic disturbances fromthe sun, collide with atoms. While in-tensity varies, the most common yel-low-green glow occurs heavily betweenlate August and April.Popular touring options in Fairbanks
include a visit to the El Dorado GoldMine. Guests ride the Tanana ValleyRailroad for an adventure into the goldfields, a two-hour guided tour that takesyou through a permafrost tunnel. Meetand talk with Alaska miners, and after ashort course in gold mining, grab a“poke” and try panning for gold.Groups enjoy the Riverboat Dis-
covery sternwheeler cruise, a three-hour journey into the heart of Alaska.See a bush floatplane taking off, visitthe home and kennels of the late four-time Iditarod winner Susan Butcher,and gain insight into the ancientAthabascan Indian culture.
I DID AWHAT?When I first heard we were headed
to a dog kennel I was less than en-thused. I’m a big fan of pooches, buthey, we’ve all been to the humane soci-ety once or twice, right? Martin Buser’sHappy Trails Kennel is far from a dogkennel. It’s more like a crash course inAlaska’s famous sled race, the Iditarod.
• 586,000 square miles
• Equal to 20% of the entire U.S. land mass
• More wilderness than the other 49 states combined
• 47,330 miles of coastline on two oceansand three seas
• The highest mountain peak in North America (McKinley)
• 17 of the 20 highest mountains in North America
• 3,000,000 lakes and rivers
• Most (and largest) glaciers on earth
• 1,800 islands
• 70 volcanoes (biggest volcanic eruptionin recorded history)
• Longest sheltered waterway on earth
• Largest temperate rain forest in North America (Inside Passage)
• Most Northern, Western and Easternstate in the U.S.
* Courtesy Alaska Travel Industry Association
Groups in Fairbanks enjoy the Riverboat Discovery sternwheeler cruise.
Our host for the day was Martin him-self, a three-time winner of the 1,150-mile race from Anchorage to Nome.Martin and 40-something of his furrycompanions welcomed us. He ex-plained the history of this celebratedevent, outlined the preparation neededby both racer and the team of dogs, andshared some course strategy. As he sad-
dled up a demonstration team, therewas a cacophony of “pick me” howlingand barking as every member of thepack tried to grab his attention for thejaunt around the ground. We left therewith a great appreciation for this event,and a team to root for next March!
The Globus family has added moreof these up-close-and-personal-type
experiences for their groups. Other en-counters include meeting an actualmountain climber who has ascendedMt. McKinley, a bush pilot who deliv-ers mail in Alaska, or an Inupiat (Es-kimo) who lives on the edge of thefrozen ocean. “The guests have appre-ciated the special programs where wehave lined up interactions with localswho tell of their lifestyle,” according toWorthen. “They can help bring Alaskaalive.”
Alaska is truly a place where evenseasoned travelers are humbled.Stephanie Parr manages the contract-ing department for Globus. She’s onthe road constantly, discovering newdestinations and refining itineraries.“Each visit has provided me withunique opportunities and experiences.Rafts of sea otters in Prince WilliamSound or a mama black bear and cubs.Time spent with an Iditarod championat his kennel, a talk with a naturalist inDenali, awe-inspiring flight-seeing. It’sjust such a dramatic, bold landscape anda humbling place to visit!”
Photos don’t do Alaska justice.They can show the tall mountains, agrizzly bear or a winding river, but theydon’t put you there to experience it.They don’t get you up close and per-sonal with the Alaskan people whoshare their stories and love for thisland. And they don’t help you capturethe vastness of this land where seem-ingly around every corner another 50-mile-long valley stretches out in frontof you. That’s the Alaska land tour ex-perience that awaits. LGT
——————————————For more information, contact the
Alaska Travel Industry Association,800-667-8489; travelalaska.com.
Hard work does pay off, at least ifyou’re one of the Globus family of
brands top group producers. The com-pany hosted 18 of its best customers inAlaska this May for its 2nd annual Plat-inum Producers conference. According toMike Schields, director of groups andemerging markets for the firm, “Three
years ago, we did a careful analysis of ourtop producers and started to see patternsemerge. From this initial study we con-ceived the idea of Platinum Producers.”
During the conference, participantsgathered for a half-day roundtable busi-ness forum where they discussed salesand marketing strategies. Topics includeddirect mail, travel presentation tips, web-site development, e-marketing, customerservice techniques and socialnetworking. This unique forum allowsparticipants to learn from each other in anon-competitive environment.
The list of attendees at this year’sevent was as diverse as the groupmarket. Customers represented radio sta-tions, religious groups, banks, park dis-tricts, alumni groups, schools andindependent travel clubs. “It really indi-cates the growth and diversity of thegroup marketplace,” said Schields.
GLOBUS WELCOMES PLATINUM PRODUCERS TO ALASKA
Visitors to Happy Trails Kennel learn all about the Iditarod sled dog race.
“The event has three main purposes.First, we want to reward top producersand thank them for a job well done.Second, obviously these groups aredoing something right, so we soughtto create an environment where theycould share ideas that would collec-tively grow their businesses. Third, it gives our best customers a chanceto personally experience one of ourtop destinations, and bring theirgroups back.” —Mike Schields
