Outdoor recreation: Alaska's 'underappreciated economic giant'

While many economic indicators in Alaska draw concern, outdoor recreation stands as a bright spot, generating $3.1 billion in economic output in 2023. That's according to Mariyam Medovaya, who is coming to Petersburg next week to discuss the growing potential of adventure tourism as the guest speaker at the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on Feb. 15.

"Outdoor recreation is kind of an underappreciated giant of American economy," says Medovaya, noting that Alaska ranked first among all states in outdoor recreation employment growth in 2023, according to the Bureau of Economic Analy...