Abstract:
The Alaska Majestic Lodge Project proposed to deliver a remote wilderness fishing lodge business plan. The project proposal was derived from a business opportunity that entailed capitalizing on a niche in a sport fishing market in the Becharof National Wildlife Refuge. When in operation, the business is expected to be the only 100% Alaskan Native owned lodge in the region and shall provide services for up to two hundred people seasonally from May to October.
The significance of the project can be demonstrated in reviewing the summer visitor year of 2011. Nearly 1.2 million Alaskan tourists spent an estimated $1.5 billion in the State. In 2013 the visitor volume increased to 1.96 million people, with a rise in spending to about $1.82 billion. Southwest Alaska received nearly $93 million in the summer of 2014.
The journey to capture the opportunity has shown that there is a forecasted net profit of fifty-five percent with a return on the investment of four years, assuming the lodge meets sixty percent capacity. The process undertaken to perform industry and market research allowed for the furnishing of steps necessary to deliver a business plan that incorporated the uniqueness of the business, the profitability of it and the opportunity for guests to see the region through the eyes of its indigenous people.
