To See Ourselves as Others Might: Snapshot of 2010 Visitor Survey

This year we again took the pulse of our summer visitors to explore what they liked or disliked and to learn a little more about their expectations and experience.  Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey!  Of the 144 visitors randomly surveyed, 90% were from the USA with 10% international.  The most common States of visitor origin were Alaska, followed by California, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Ohio and Texas.  Unlike 2009,when 30% of our participants in the survey were repeat visitors, this year 88% of our visitors were first time visitors... we believe that reflects the strong growth in independent travel to Alaska this summer as well as the inclement weather that was experienced throughout the summer (causing more visitors to seek "all weather" experiences).  Our summer overall visitation was up nearly 16% over 2009 (but still down some 15% from 2008 numbers).

Some key findings about our visitors:

Evidently our tourism brochures and "word of mouth" advertizing (through hotel and tourism networks or friends and relatives) are key to atracting new visitors to the center.  With Lexie Mizeras as our new VP or Marketing and Philanthropy, we'll continue to further evaluate additional marketing options in the year ahead - for example, our social media membership increased by >300% in 2010... how might that help visitor marketing in 2011?

It is always interesting to assess what role a major destination such as the Alaska SeaLife Center plays in the regional tourism economy.

These data reaffirm the economic significance of the SeaLife Center to Seward and the South Central Alaska tourism industry generally and reinforce casual feedback from guests about the value of having the Center so conveniently located to the majority of Alaska's population and visitor pathways.

Most Enjoyed:

This graph shows the most popular exhibits and reinforces the importance of live animals to the visitor experience.  Interestingly, visitors this year also mentioned more than 25 other elements of their experience specifically (from Puffin encounters to OTK Exhibit) which gives a good sense of the diversity of attractions that the Center has for different audiences.  Equally significantly 82% of visitors did not identify anything about their experience that they disliked!  The only aspect of visitor experience that was mentioned more than once as a 'dislike" was the early closure of our cafe!  We are currently evaluating how we might expand that service in 2012.

Want to See

We again asked visitors what they would most like to see in future visits to the SeaLife Center.  Not surprisingly, sea otters were most frequently mentioned, followed by whales and interactive exhibits.  That feedback continues to guide medium term exhibit and capital development planning - stay tuned!

Visitor Perception of the Condition of Alaska's Seas

This year we also sought to assess the impact of our exhibits on visitors.  While the data are only preliminary, it was interesting to see, how people perceive the condition of Alaska's marine ecosystems before and after their visit.  Clearly our messages about Alaska's sustainable fisheries management programs and other aspects of marine stewardship have an impact on their perception!  At the same time, 75% of visitors expressed concern for the (current and potential) impacts of climate change on Alaska's seas so there is evidently a strong undercurrent of concern for the future condition of Alaska's seas. Equally interesting was their feedback about specific new knowledge they had obtained as a result of their visit - respondents cited more than 30 new "factoids" ranging from biology (how to distinguish puffin species) to behavior (how sea urchins "give hugs").

Finally, we asked visitors to sum up the 'value for money' of their experience at the Center - the results were a very encouraging reinforcement of our mission efforts to "generate and share scientific knowledge to promote understanding and stewardship of Alaska’s marine ecosystems".

In the year ahead we will continue customer surveys to better understand our visitors (and non visitors) and what more we might do to broaden our visitor base and ensure the effectiveness of our messaging - those results will be used to guide marketing, education and stewardship programs - we welcome your ongoing feedback.