What Explore Fairbanks does

Explore Fairbanks is the official Convention & Visitors Bureau and destination marketing organization for Fairbanks, Alaska. It is structured as a private non-profit operating under the legal name Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau, affiliated with the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and serves as the primary marketing entity for Interior Alaska, Denali, and the broader Arctic region. The organization functions as a member-funded DMO, drawing revenue from membership fees paid by local tourism businesses, hotel-tax allocations, and partnership contributions, and reaches visitors through a physical visitor center (the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center), printed visitor and winter guides, and dedicated portals for travel trade, meetings, media, and Armed Forces personnel.

The organization's core deliverable is a destination-marketing platform built around a Simpleview-powered website (explorefairbanks.com) that offers interactive, condition-based trip planning tools. The most differentiated pieces are the Aurora Borealis Tracker — which correlates aurora forecast, weather, and time of day across multiple Fairbanks locations during the August 21 to April 21 season — and the Midnight Sun Tracker, which calculates daylight and civil twilight 365 days a year across locations. A 360 Media Gallery adds immersive visual content for marquee attractions. The site is published in six languages (English, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Spanish), and the DMO also runs a blog, an email newsletter, social channels, and seasonal event promotions spanning aurora viewing, the Midnight Sun Festival, Golden Days, and winter festivals.

On the go-to-market side, Explore Fairbanks does not sell directly to consumers; pricing for accommodations, tours, attractions, and events is set by member businesses. Its customer-facing segments are individual leisure travelers, meeting and event planners, travel trade professionals (tour operators, travel agents, wholesalers), media and press, and Armed Forces personnel at Eielson Air Force Base. Commercial reach is extended through partnerships with Alaska Airlines, cruise lines, the UAF Geophysical Institute (Science for Alaska series), the Tanana Chiefs Conference, and a network of regional museums and cultural institutions, with the Morris Thompson Center functioning as a co-located hub for cultural education, retail, and visitor services.

Name

Explore Fairbanks

Legal name

Fairbanks Convention & Visitors Bureau

Website

https://explorefairbanks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Explore Fairbanks is a non-profit destination marketing organization and Convention & Visitors Bureau that promotes tourism to Fairbanks, Interior Alaska, Denali, and the Arctic. It runs a Simpleview-powered website with Aurora and Midnight Sun trackers, the Morris Thompson Visitor Center, and serves leisure travelers, meeting planners, travel trade, media, and military visitors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing / Convention & Visitors Bureau Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers) (THAAAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Adventure & Expedition Travel Agencies (THAKAFAB), Recreation & Activity Services (Hiking, Boating, Climbing, Fishing—Guided/Authorized) (THAAAGAF)

Keywords

• Destination marketing services
• Visitor bureau services
• Tourism promotion
• Travel information resources
• Convention marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Fairbanks

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tourism Marketing and Promotion: Explore Fairbanks operates as the official Convention & Visitors Bureau, funded primarily through membership fees from local tourism businesses, potential hotel tax allocations, and partnership contributions from area businesses seeking to attract visitors to Fairbanks and Interior Alaska.
2. Visitor Services and Guides: Distribution of visitor guides and promotional materials to tourists. Revenue may be generated through guide requests and partnership marketing fees.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Explore Fairbanks is the official Convention & Visitors Bureau and Destination Marketing Organization for Fairbanks, Alaska. It promotes tourism to Interior Alaska, Denali, and the Arctic through digital trip-planning tools (Aurora and Midnight Sun Trackers), comprehensive visitor guides, event calendars, the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, and partnerships with travel trade, meeting planners, and media.

Product overview

Explore Fairbanks is the official Convention and Visitors Bureau for Fairbanks, Alaska, operating a destination marketing platform that promotes tourism experiences in the Fairbanks region. The organization offers a suite of digital tools including the Aurora Borealis Tracker and Midnight Sun Tracker, which provide real-time viewing condition data for visitors planning trips during Alaska's unique seasonal phenomena. The platform also provides comprehensive visitor guides, an extensive events calendar, and manages the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center. The organization connects visitors with attractions, accommodations, tours, and cultural experiences throughout Interior Alaska, from downtown Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle and Denali National Park.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 70 consecutive days of continuous sunshine during Midnight Sun Season (May 17 - July 27)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExplore Fairbanks partners with UAF's Geophysical Institute to host the Science for Alaska Summer Series, presenting free public talks on topics including aurora research, HAARP facility, climate science, and rocket launches. The partnership leverages scientific expertise to enhance visitor education and engagement.
• Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center houses multiple partner organizations including Alaska Native Gift Shop (Denakkanaaga Elders and Tanana Chiefs Conference artists), Alaska Geographic Store, Tanana Chiefs Conference Cultural Programs, and Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Center (NPS).
• Eielson Air Force BaseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExplore Fairbanks supports military personnel stationed at Eielson AFB through dedicated Armed Forces resources including local discounts, housing information, and family activity guides.
• Local Museums and Cultural InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, Fairbanks Ice Museum, Pioneer Park museums, Fairbanks Children's Museum, Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, and Alaska Mining Hall of Fame to promote cultural tourism.
• Fairbanks Summer Arts FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, a two-week multidisciplinary celebration featuring nearly 10,000 participants, 100 workshops, and over 100 events across music, dance, visual arts, and culinary experiences.
• SimpleviewcoreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite platform and CRM technology provider powering explorefairbanks.com, event management, and partner extranet systems for the destination marketing organization.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Travel Juneau: Travel Juneau is the official DMO for Alaska's capital, operating as a non-profit CVB promoting cruise and adventure tourism in Southeast Alaska. It is directly comparable to Explore Fairbanks as an Alaska-based, membership-funded DMO targeting similar visitor demographics and travel-trade channels.
• Visit Iceland: Visit Iceland is the official DMO of Iceland, a destination globally positioned around northern lights, midnight sun, and remote natural wonders. It is the closest functional and experiential peer to Explore Fairbanks given shared aurora oval positioning and complementary seasonality.
• Visit Finland: Visit Finland is Finland's national DMO, marketing Lapland (e.g., Rovaniemi, Saariselkä) as a leading northern lights and Arctic experience destination. Functionally and thematically near-identical to Explore Fairbanks in terms of aurora oval geography and seasonality.
• Visit Anchorage: Visit Anchorage is the official CVB/DMO for Alaska's largest city, promoting year-round urban and outdoor tourism including northern lights and cruises. Comparable as an Alaska CVB operating multi-language marketing, meetings/conventions, and travel-trade services to drive visitation.
• Visit Norway: Visit Norway (Innovasjon Norge) is Norway's national DMO, with aurora viewing in northern Norway (Tromsø, Lofoten) as a flagship product alongside fjords. It is highly comparable to Explore Fairbanks on the aurora + remote destination axis and competing for the same northern lights traveler.
• Discover Tromsø: Discover Tromsø is the regional DMO for Tromsø, Northern Norway, the most-recognized European aurora destination. Functions as a destination marketing organization for a comparable small, high-latitude city and is the most-cited European competitor to Fairbanks.

Broad incumbents

• Destination Canada: Destination Canada is Canada's national DMO, supporting international marketing of Canadian destinations including Northern experiences. A broad incumbent peer providing macro context and competing for global tourism share in northern-themed travel.
• Brand USA: Brand USA is the United States' national DMO, responsible for promoting international inbound travel. Comparable as the U.S. national-level DMO with which Explore Fairbanks partners/leverages for international marketing of the Fairbanks destination.
• Travel Alaska: Travel Alaska (Alaska Travel Industry Association) is the statewide umbrella DMO for Alaska tourism. It is comparable as a non-profit DMO operating above the city/regional level and setting broader marketing strategy under which Explore Fairbanks executes.

Regional players

• Visit Yukon: Visit Yukon is the Canadian territorial DMO for Yukon, marketing the Kluane region and northern experiences including aurora viewing from Whitehorse. Comparable to Explore Fairbanks on high-latitude aurora positioning but operating in Canada and competing for adjacent aurora-tourist flow.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/explorfairbanks
• Facebookfacebook.com/explorefairbanks
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/explore-fairbanks-human-resources

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Explore Fairbanks