Selling the Alaska Highway: tourism and landscape

Abstract

Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the North. As a dynamic industry, tourism may exert powerful, often unforeseen pressures on the cultures, economies, resources, and landscapes of host communities. As a popular tourist corridor in the North, the Alaska Highway is enshrouded in a mythology based on frontier, hardship, and wilderness images. However, an examination of the Alaska Highway reveals that the tourism landscape contradicts this mythology. Indeed the tourism landscape is in the process of becoming commercial and homogenous in nature. While distinction in landscape is noted as a primary motivation for Alaska Highway travellers, more importantly, distinction is identified as a vital component of community and regional identity. In order for tourism to be a positive industry, it seems pertinent that Alaska Highway communities assess the long-term implications of mass tourism in this region and undertake appropriate, long-term planning initiatives based on community goals.