New e-book catches wave of tourism's future

A new electronic book, or "e-book" for short, has just come out and is promising to make things a whole lot easier for those planning a summer vacation anywhere on the Kenai Peninsula.

Tom and Christine Rohn have just released a new e-book titled "Tsunamifactor.com's Destination: Kenai Peninsula, Alaska" and they gave a presentation of the project during a recent North Peninsula Chamber of Commerce meeting.

"This has been three years in the making," said Tom Rohn, noting the e-book features more than 150 photos, maps and information about numerous area attractions and businesses.

"We wanted to give people a good idea of what it was like here, so we started on a road trip from Potter's Marsh and began taking photos of everything on the way to show them what it was like," Rohn said.

He said they began with campgrounds, and it took them a year to compile all the needed information of every public campground in the state. They didn't stop there, though. They began including information about the individual cities and towns, such as activities, businesses and the history behind each.

Fishing tips and information about wild plants and animals, where to see them and what to watch out for also are included in the e-book.

"A lot of people have no idea what to expect, and Alaska can be a pretty unforgiving place, so we put a few warnings in there," Rohn said.

Examples of some of these warnings include staying out of the mud at low tide on the flats of Cook Inlet, not coming between a mother moose and her calf, and watching out for leeches in Stormy Lake.

So much information contained within one e-book may sound like it would be difficult to find what your looking for, but Rohn said the product is very user-friendly.

"Anyone could figure out how to navigate this site in two minutes, but it could take all day to see and read everything," he said.

That's why Rohn has the e-book designed with a powerful search engine.

"All someone has to do is type in a word, for example 'berries,' and it brings up where to pick them, pictures of what they look like and information about which ones are safe and which ones are poisonous. It tells it all."

As much as Rohn designed this e-book for tourists, he said residents have a tremendous amount to gain from his endeavor.

"This will serve as a vehicle to get people into the businesses that require tourism dollars to survive. I believe if you can put a person in a charter, gift shop or B & B on the peninsula, that's a person who will spend money here."

Rohn added that the e-book's title is a reflection of this annual occurrence on the peninsula.

"A large wave of visitors tour the ... Kenai Peninsula each year," he said. "A wave large enough to be described as a tsunami. These visitors are also a significant factor in our local economies. Whenever anyone tours the Kenai Peninsula they become a part of this tsunamifactor."

Rohn still is looking for additional businesses to sponsor and sell his e-book. It is being distributed through the Internet site tsunami.com and soon print versions will be sold at Trustworthy Hardware in Soldotna and statewide by the Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart chains.