The Kenai Peninsula Borough will include the peninsula’s six incorporated communities in its tourism promotional materials under an agreement authorized by members of the borough assembly on Tuesday.
The resolution passed by assembly members will allow the Kenai Peninsula Borough to promote tourism to the peninsula’s incorporated cities. Borough code doesn’t allow the borough to promote city-specific tourism without entering into a partnership with that city.
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche told members of the assembly’s Policies and Procedures Committee on Tuesday that, since the borough has started doing its own tourism promotion, it may directly or indirectly promote tourism to cities in addition to the borough as a whole.
“This laydown essentially allows us to share those products with the municipalities within the borough as well, which makes perfect sense to me,” Micciche said.
The agreement authorized by the resolution passed Tuesday doesn’t obligate the borough or cities to spend money on tourism campaigns. Each city — Soldotna, Kenai, Seward, Homer, Seldovia and Kachemak City — must sign on to be part of the agreement.
Policies and Procedures Committee Chair Mike Tupper on Tuesday says the legislation “bridge(s) a gap.”
“It allows us as a borough to then include those cities in the tourism promotion advertising that we’re doing,” he said. “The way that it currently stands, it’s a little awkward to invite people to the borough without inviting them to the cities of the borough.”
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
