Travel promoters hope 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' has legs

Travel promoters hope 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' has legs

While tonight's two-hour finale of the TLC series Sarah Palin's Alaska may be the last, tourism officials in The Last Frontier are hoping the scenic exploits of the Republican ex-governor and vice presidential candidate spark more visits from the Lower 48.
Fformer Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin helps sextuplet Leah Gosselin as she cooks a hotdog on an open flame, in Coffee Creek, Alaska, during a taping of
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By Gilles Mingasson, AP

The Alaska Travel Industry Association has launched a series of new cable TV marketing ads airing on both Sarah Palin's Alaska and the Discovery Channel reality show Deadliest Catch. Industry experts said tourism in the state was on the rise last year, with the number of independent travelers up slightly from recessionary 2009.

"Obviously, any time you put Alaska in front of people, no matter the context, it's a good thing," Kathy Dunn, the association's marketing director told the Associated Press. "Exposure is always good."

Palin's eight-episode series, which debuted in November and has garnered mixed ratings, "is not Housewives of Alaska," Palin told USA TODAY in an interview from her Wasilla home. "This is about the uniqueness of Alaska, the special place it is, and showing the rest of America why we are here and what we have to offer."

Of course, that uniqueness isn't universally appealing: In one much-hyped episode, reality star Kate Gosselin and her eight children cut short a planned camping trip (shown above) when cold, rainy weather prompted Gosselin to complain the outing was "cruel and unusual punishment."

And, argues USA TODAY Opinion columnist Nick Jans, "most of the show's escapades bear scant resemblance to the activities of most outdoors-oriented Alaskans. In fact, about half of the Palins' 'adventures' are guided trips aimed at mass-market tourists. You won't find many Alaskans on those theme park rides, which require no skills beyond a pulse and the ability to open your wallet.

Alaskans would be a lot more impressed if she proved she could gut a caribou or set a gill net on her own — skills at which many bush-wise Alaskan women excel — and still keep those immaculately manicured French nails intact."

If you've seen the show, what do you think? Have Mama Grizzly's adventures made you more likely to visit Alaska?