You may have heard a couple of new terms on the streets of Skagway this spring. Save our Skagway and Safe Skagway. Both are part of the municipality’s plan to bring visitors into the city with a lack of large cruise ships or highway traffic looming again this summer.
Cody Jennings from the Skagway Visitor Information Center breaks down what Save our Skagway means.
“Whether you used to live in Skagway as a year-round resident or a seasonal resident or visited Skagway, we are going to be open for business. We’re going to offer a healthy and safe environment for folks to come and enjoy Skagway at a slower and definitely quieter pace,” said Jennings.
The goal of Save our Skagway is to convince residents to reach out to friends and family and extend invites. Jennings says they are working on compiling a list of businesses that will be open and the types of activities that will be offered to help people better plan their visits. If you want to get your business listed contact her office by phone at (907) 983-9720.
Safe Skagway is another element of the plan to help bring visitors to town this summer. Jennings says that the program is designed to let potential visitors know that Skagway is a safe place for independent travelers to put on their itineraries.
“It will be asking our businesses to take the Safe Skagway pledge and it’s basically sort of assuring our visitors and our community that we’re going to operate in a safe and healthy way so that we can continue to receive visitors,” said Jennings.
The program is rolled into the Tourism Best Management Practices plan put together by the Municipality and local businesses. A draft of the plan is available online at Skagway.org. Once businesses take the pledge and sign off on the TBMP, they will be sent out a tool kit of sorts which might include online media kits, decals, and a potential window cling with the Safe Skagway logo on it.
Events are starting to line up, beginning in mid-April with the first Garden City Market of the year, the clean sweep event, and a possible Spring Festival. May looks even busier with events in the works for almost every weekend, so there should be lots to do for visitors and locals alike.
