April 3, 2006

Welcome to the Alaska Travel Industry Association (AlaskaTIA) Travel News Bulletin. AlaskaTIA sends this out periodically to keep media up-to-date on Alaska tourism and travel news. Media are invited to call (800) 327-9372 for more information. In this issue: 1. Alaska's National Parks Set Visitation Record in 2005 2. Largest Spring Concentration of Bald Eagles in the World Visit Alaska 3. Nation Prepares for Copper River Reds

1.Alaska's National Parks Set Visitation Record in 2005

ALASKA - According to the latest visitor numbers, Alaska's national parks were high on the list of where visitors wanted to go in 2005. The National Park Service/Alaska Region said more than 2.35 million people visited one or more of the 15 national parks across the state. This surpassed past totals by about 60,000, and marked a record year for the national parks. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway was the most-visited with 888,255 visitors (up about 44,632 from 2004). Kenai Fjords National Park -- encompassing 607,805 acres of wilderness on the southeast coast of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula - also saw a significant increase with visitation reaching 258,297 in 2005, up about 14,000 from the previous year.

2. Largest Spring Concentration of Bald Eagles in the World Visit Alaska

WRANGELL - The small town of Wrangell in Southeast Alaska is about to see its population increase by 700 percent when the largest spring concentration of shorebirds, including huge numbers of bald eagles, come to roost. The Stikine Garnet Festival celebrates the annual bird migration and is held annually the third week in April. The Stikine (pronounced Stick-Heen) River delta's tidal and grass flats are an important migratory stopover for the thousands of eagles, snow geese and sandhill cranes traveling their annual migratory route North. While the birds are migrating, Stellar seals and sea lions are congregating in the same region. The Stikine River (Tlingit Indian for Great River) is the fastest navigable river in North America and stretches 400 miles from its headwaters in Canada; it is fed by over 100 glaciers and is one of the most ecologically diverse rivers in Alaska. The towns of Cordova and Homer also will be celebrating Alaska's annual shorebird migration with the Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival, May 4-7, 2006 and the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, May 4-7, 2006. Media Information: Stikine Garnet Festival: Wilma Leslie, 907-874-4311, wilma@alaskawaters.com, Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival: Martin Moe, Cordova Chamber of Commerce, 907-424-7260, visitcordova.ak.net Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival: Christina Whiting, 907-235-7740, shorebirdster@gmail.com, or visit www.homeralaska.org.

3. Nation Prepares for Copper River Reds

CORDOVA - As fishers prepare for the opening season of their favorite sport (fishing), culinary aficionados around the world are setting their tables in anticipation of the feast. It's nearly harvest time in Alaska for the much sought after Copper River reds. Around May 15th, salmon begin returning to the rivers and streams of their birth, and the Copper River red salmon often are the first to arrive. These salmon are in demand around the world because of their high fat and oil content, the same attributes that make them savory and great to eat. Hundreds of commercial fishermen flood the local Alaska fishing town of Cordova, harvesting the fish and arranging to fly them directly to markets around the world aboard what locals have come to call the "salmon-thirty-salmons," (737 aircraft). For more information on Copper River red salmon and the town of Cordova: www.cordovachamber.com.