The "Palin Effect" on Alaska's No. 2 Industry

Alaska governor Sarah Palin has given John McCain's flagging presidential campaign a shot in the arm, but can it boost Alaska tourism, the state's No. 2 industry after oil?

Ron Peck, president & chief operations officer of the Alaska Travel Industry Association, said he's seen a big uptick in interest in since her surprise nomination. "We're calling it 'the Palin effect,' " he said.

Peck cites a spike in responses to the agency's marketing mailings and hits to the travelalaska.com website, where a message from the governor extols the pleasures of moose sightings and Alaska's Russian legacy. "We couldn't buy this kind of exposure," he said.

Peck joked that no one has yet offered a tour of "Sarah Palin's Wasilla," but a little googling turned up just such a thing.

An outfit called Authentic Alaska Tours has put together the Wasilla Cultural History Tour, led by Geri McCann, who "worked directly under Sarah Palin as registrar of the Wasilla City Museum while Sarah was mayor of Wasilla."

The tour promises that the guide's "personal knowledge and insights into the heart of Alaska's governor will be revealed along with the fascinating history of this historic region."

McCann, however, said business has been less than brisk.

"The only tours I have booked as a result of Sarah's popularity are the ones for her secret service agents on their day off," she explained in an email message.

She chalks it up to bad timing: the summer tourist season was winding down by time Palin hit the national stage.

by Amy Cortese

Photograph of Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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