 By Rob Glenn July 20, 2005
However, I am not sure that the tourism companies would be able to hire the quantity needed to fill the positions. This is a working town. In other words most people have jobs. And those who don't are either retired, too young, or hanging out in the bars. It would be nice to have more high school kids working as tour guides, but a lot of them leave town in summer, or are working as well somewhere else. I am not saying some jobs may not get filled, but not the amount the industry needs. Plus those that come up from down south spend a lot of money in Ketchikan in the short time they are here. Maybe the right angle to go at with the issue of hiring college kids that don't know the area is to have more training. This is where the locals would come in handy. Have locals teach the college kids and so on. They can teach about native heritage just like they do in the elementary schools. They can teach about the town, the fishing industry, and so on. This is how Ketchikan locals can contribute in a constructive way to the booming summer tourism industry. Rob Glenn
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