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For some, the central Kenai Peninsula is synonymous with world-renowned fishing, but in the much larger picture, most tourists visit Alaska for three reasons.

"When you survey the whole of visitors on why they come to Alaska, the number one reason is to view wildlife, followed by mountains and glaciers, and we have those in abundance on the peninsula," said Shannon Hamrick, executive director for the Kenai Peninsula Tourism & Marketing Council.

Hamrick said she sees a trend in the tourism industry moving toward ecotourism.

The meaning of ecotourism may be different for different people.

Hamrick defined it as, "Getting back to nature and leaving a small footprint when you are in nature. This means not disturbing your surroundings and leaving things the way you found them."

Hamrick said marketing to this crowd is easier than it sounds.

"So many of our visitors come from New York City or Los Angeles. For them, just being on tour and seeing a whale, an eagle and an otter is an experience that just takes their breath away. They consider the entire trip to Alaska as getting back to nature," she said.

A few peninsula businesses and KPTMC have gone after the ecotourism market.

Hamrick touted the marketing council's collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to create their new " Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Viewing Trail Guide."

The book is a compilation of 65 viewing sites across the peninsula, most within easy access of the road system, where nature lovers can spot almost every local inhabitant.

"It's all road-based so you can grab this guide take off and go see any type of animal that lives here," she said.

The only critters excluded from the viewing guide were bears. Hamrick said KPTMC and Fish and Game didn't want to lead anyone into potentially dangerous situations.

Alaska Wildland Adventures, based in Girdwood, offers its guests guided rafting, hiking, kayaking and fishing trips away from the road systems and into the heart of the peninsula.

The company, founded in 1977, offers trips that key in on the state's natural and cultural history while emphasizing environmental protection and sustainability.

It's a business model that's working well for the company.

"We have definitely seen growth over the years," said their marketing manager Heather Dudick.

Dudick said she's seen the target demographic shift from 50 to 60 year olds to a younger generation.

"Our demographic is expanding on both ends," she said. "We get folks in their 80s and then get we get 30 to 40 year olds that are looking to get off the beaten path but want the logistics taken care of."

Dudick said they also have seen a growth in the number of families that visit and are changing their packaging to gear towards the younger crowd.

Another popular tourist attraction, particularly in Southeast and coastal Southcentral, are cruise ship tours.

While the central peninsula doesn't see any direct impact from docking cruise ships, John Binkley, president of the Alaska Cruise Association, said passengers disembarking from their trips offer a business opportunity for the area.

"There's a huge amount of cruise ship passengers, that pre or post, take an Alaska vacation," Binkley said.

He also noted that sometimes cruise ship passengers will plan later trips to the state after taking a cruise.

"People come up on a cruise ship, they buy a package, scope it out, and say, 'Wow, we saw that Kenai Peninsula, we'd love to go down there,'" Binkley said.

Of course, most business owners likely are looking at their bottom lines for this season, not the next.

Binkley said the ACA offers opportunities for businesses to tap into both cruise ship passengers who are disembarking or just taking a day off from the boat.

"We've patterned with the state department of commerce to put together a little tutorial DVD that really walks business through the steps of how to get hooked up with the cruise lines," he said.

While marketing the peninsula's natural features in the summer months has been met with growing success, the mountains, glaciers and, at least some of the wildlife, are still around through the off seasons too.

That's something Hamrick said she'd like to see expanded.

"We are still going to be busy in July, but there could be a lot of value in marketing for late August and September," she said.

She said with a slumping economy, KPTMC is emphasizing the shoulder season.

"The shoulder seasons have always been important but now more so than ever," she said.

They're currently offering their members opportunities to put together packages with discounted packaging.

Beyond September however, is a cold bleak season where few from Outside come to visit the area.

This is something Hamrick said she hopes to see addressed in the coming years.

"We've always had the chicken and egg problem in the winter season," Hamrick said.

She explained that while there are plenty of winter travel opportunities in the peninsula, there's no real tourist infrastructure to support it.

Since there's not much of an infrastructure, there's no real client base, and thus entrepreneurs and business owners are hesitant to invest in winter businesses.

The opportunities do exist though.

"Some of the smaller bed and breakfasts could put together a cross country ski, snow shoe or snowmobile trip with romantic diner packages for Anchorage residents. They'll come down, the roads are safe all year, and that a way we'll move slowly into it," Hamrick said.

Loni Galloway, owner of Escape for Two Bed and Breakfast in Soldotna, has been pursuing that vary idea.

Galloway promotes her couples oriented hideaway to residents in Anchorage, the Valley and even Fairbanks, who're looking to get away for a few days.

"They're mainly just looking to get out of town. They want to get out of doge and go somewhere that's peaceful, quiet, relaxing, comfortable and more or less catered to couples," Galloway said, describing her typical clientele.

She said the couple can take advantage of some of the local cross country skiing and hiking available while they're here.

Out of state visitors to Galloway's B&B are fewer and farther between, though they do exist.

"I have had people from out of state here in the winter and that blows me away," Galloway said. "They want to come in October and November, I think are they're crazy but they want to see what its like here in the wintertime."

Galloway said if there were more of a draw to the area in the wintertime with more guided activities she thinks her business could grow.

Hamrick hope to see ideas like this come to fruition.

"If people would build the product than we could promote it," she said.

Dante Petri can be reached at dante.petri@peninsulaclarion.com.