|
Tour operator spotlight: Salmon Berry Tours |
|
Community spotlight: Wrangell |
|
Highlighted products and tours |
|
New Ketchikan tour teaches wilderness survival |
|
Learn the ropes from an Iditarod champion |
|
Master a new skill at Alaska Folk School |
|
Steamboat tour features Juneau’s mining history |
|
Gray Line of Alaska announces 2012 tour packages in Alaska and Yukon |
Tour operator spotlight: Salmon Berry Tours
This winter, Anchorage-based Salmon Berry Tours will offer a new winter mushing program in partnership with Dallas Seavey Racing, another well-established tour provider that specializes in all things Iditarod. The four-hour adventure includes a dog sled ride, snowshoe stroll, trail-side treat and the chance to meet and learn about the equipment, mushers and dogs needed to compete in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Salmon Berry Tours offers a variety of scheduled and custom tours across Southcentral and Interior Alaska ideal for groups or individual travelers. Other popular winter tours include the Ultimate Iditarod Adventure Package, the Northern Lights Late-Night Special, Winter Turnagain Turnaround Tour and more. Visit www.salmonberrytours.com for more information.
Media contact:
Contact: Candice McDonald, owner
Phone: 907-278-3572
Twitter: @salmonberrytour
Email: [email protected]
URL: www.salmonberrytours.com
Community spotlight: Wrangell
Located in the heart of Alaska’s Inside Passage, Wrangell is home to a variety of wildlife, scenery and adventures. A trip to Wrangell can include getting up close to a glacier, fishing, hiking, golfing, soaking in a natural hot springs or viewing brown and black bears at the Anan Wildlife Observatory. In late July, the community hosts Bearfest, a celebration of Wrangell’s bears that includes a symposium, bear-viewing, photography workshops and family activities. Each spring, travelers flock to Wrangell for the annual Stikine River Birding Festival. The Stikine River Delta is a major stop on the Pacific Flyway for over 14,000 snow geese, over 10,000 sandhill cranes and more than 2,000 eagles, the largest springtime concentration of eagles in North America. Wrangell is linked with other Inside Passage communities via the Alaska Marine Highway System, and Alaska Airlines offers daily flights.
Media contact:
Contact: Carol Rushmore, City of Wrangell
Phone: 907-874-2381
Twitter: @WrangellCVB
Email: [email protected]
URL: www.wrangellalaska.org
Highlighted products and tours
1. New Nullagvik Hotel
The Northwest Arctic city of Kotzebue opened the doors of a brand new hotel owned and operated by NANA, the regional Alaska Native Corporation for the area. The new Nullagvik Hotel replaces the original hotel of the same name that was a mainstay in Kotzebue since 1975. The new Nullagvik Hotel includes 78 guest rooms, a full-service restaurant, fitness center, a meeting room that can accommodate up to 100 people and an observation deck overlooking Kotzebue Sound. Kotzebue is located 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle and can be reached by air via Alaska Airlines or Era Aviation. Home to popular fishing rivers and the Kobuk 440 sled dog race, visitors can experience Kotzebue through a helicopter tour or charter flight with Bering Air, visit LaVonne’s Fish Camp to experience subsistence lifestyle of the Inupiat people or take part in a city tour offered by the Nullagvik Hotel. For more information, visit www.nullagvikhotel.com.
Contact: Shelley Byrd, NMS Lodging Division
Phone: 907-273-3716
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://nmsusa.com
2. Chugach Powder Guides unveils new Seward adventure
Beginning in 2012, Chugach Powder Guides will offer helicopter skiing 20 miles east of Seward on the North Gulf Coast. The area produces strong snowfalls and its glacial valleys with vertical, steep skiing terrain offers some of the best runs in the state. Skiers also will experience a bird’s-eye view of the islands and fjords of Resurrection Bay. Guests fly into Anchorage, and then take a scenic shuttle ride 125 miles to Seward, along the Seward Highway, a National Scenic Byway. For more information, visit http://epicquest.com/trips/snow/alaska/north-gulf-coast/.
Contact: Chris Owens, Epic Quest
Phone: 907-783-4354
Twitter: @epic_quest
Email: [email protected]
URL: www.epicquest.com
New Ketchikan tour teaches wilderness survival
Travelers can learn how to survive in the Alaska wilderness and take part in a research project to help sustain the Alaska seafood industry. The Alaskan Wilderness Survival tour, offered by Allen Marine Tours in Ketchikan, takes guests to a remote island for a short guided hike through an old-growth forest where they are taught survival skills such as how to build a shelter, identify wild edibles and light a fire. Back aboard the expedition catamaran, guests will pursue the green crab, an invasive species that has become a threat to the local ecosystem. Travelers will haul sampling crab pots, look for evidence of green crabs and record findings for the University of Alaska. For more information, contact www.allenmarinetours.com.
Media contact:
Contact: Deby Santos, Allen Marine Tours, Inc.
Phone: 907-225-8100
Email: [email protected]
URL: www.allenmarinetours.com
Learn the ropes from an Iditarod champion
2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Champion John Baker is teaming up with the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage to teach visitors about the state’s official sport, dog mushing. Team Baker Tours will present the history of the sled dog from its historical significance among indigenous Arctic people to modern day recreational racing. Visitors will also play with puppies, learn how to harness a team, enjoy a dog cart ride and hear stories from veteran Iditarod mushers. The presentations will begin on May 6, 2012. For more information, visit www.alaskanative.net.
Media contact:
Contact: Dave Farve, Alaska Native Heritage Center
Phone: 907-330-8055
Twitter: @ANHC
Email: [email protected]
URL: www.alaskanative.net
Master a new skill at Alaska Folk School
Visitors yearning for a taste of the simple life can take a class at the Alaska Folk School while visiting Talkeetna. The Northern Susitna Institute recently opened a folk school to teach traditional skills such as sustainable agriculture, woodworking, fiber arts, dance, ceramics, antler basket weaving, blacksmithing and more. Talkeetna is a former gold-mining town located 115 miles north of Anchorage and showcases its early Alaska flavor with log cabins, a roadhouse and Mount McKinley looming in the background. Folk classes began in September 2011 and continue through the winter. A class schedule can be found at http://northernsusitnainstitute.org/alaska-folk-school.
Media contact:
Contact: Diane Ziegner, Alaska Folk School director
Phone: 907-733-7111
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://northernsusitnainstitute.org
Steamboat tour features Juneau’s mining history
Visitors can tour on Alaska's only wood-burning passenger steamboat with the Juneau Steamboat Company. The cruises down the Gastineau Channel offer tales of Juneau’s early mining history from the illustrious Captain John against the backdrop of southeast Alaska’s coastal environment. In 2012, children’s activities will be available on all tours, including a kid’s steering helm and onboard games. Special evening dessert and date-night cruises include dessert elegantly served on silver dinnerware. Small groups are encouraged to call ahead for custom tours. The fleet of two boats carries up to 16 people each on scheduled departures or custom tours. Tickets are available on any Princess Cruises ship, at the Mount Roberts Tram or by calling 907-723-0372. For more information, visit www.juneausteamboat.com.
Media contact:
Contact: John George, Juneau Steamboat Company
Phone: 907-723-0372
Email: [email protected]
URL: www.juneausteamboat.com
Gray Line of Alaska announces 2012 tour packages in Alaska and Yukon
Gray Line of Alaska’s 2012 “Alaska and the Yukon” brochure is now available, and the company announced it’s taking reservations for next year with special discounts for trips booked by Jan. 31. With 65 years of experience in the industry, Gray Line of Alaska is a leader in Alaska and Yukon tourism and will continue to offer multi-day package tours and day trips from key locations in 2012.
Gray Line vacation packages include two- to 10-day itineraries throughout Alaska and the Yukon that range from Explorer Tours and rail trips focusing on Denali National Park and Preserve, to highway tours and fully escorted packages throughout the two regions. A new, eight-day Escorted National Parks itinerary has been added to the 2012 lineup, which takes guests to three of the state’s most popular national treasures — Denali National Park and Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
In 2012 Gray Line will feature a total of 10 package tours, over 20 variations of Denali rail tours, and sightseeing options from both Anchorage and Fairbanks. All package tours include a visit to Alaska’s top-rated inland destination, Denali National Park and Preserve. A visit to Denali offers the opportunity to see Alaska’s famed wildlife, wilderness and spectacular Mount McKinley.
About Gray Line of Alaska
Gray Line of Alaska has been a premier tour operator in Alaska for 65 years, and in 2010, received the Gray Line Worldwide Award for Innovation. In 2012 the company will continue to offer multiple-day package tours and sightseeing tours in Alaska and the Yukon. For more information, call 800-544-2206 or visit www.graylinealaska.com.
Media contact:
Traci Miller, Marketing Manager
Gray Line of Alaska
[email protected], 206-336-5837
Mark Mumm, Product Manager
Gray Line of Alaska
[email protected], 206-336-5959
Sales contact:
Laurie McKim, Sales Manager
Gray Line of Alaska
[email protected], 206 336 5834 |
|
 |
| Fun Fact |
| Wrangell is the only town in Alaska to have been governed not only by Alaska Natives, but also under three flags — Russian, British and American. |
|