State of Alaska set a record for cruise ship travel during the summer months, the capital city, Juneau, registering 1.65 million visitors this year, as per figures presented at a Thursday meeting of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce.
The majority of Alaska tourists are arriving via cruise ships The majority of Alaskan tourists arrive via cruise ship, and Juneau is home to only just a few cruise ships that travel to Alaska every summer which makes the city’s numbers as a representation of the entire industry.
The latest figures indicate an increase — and a few — of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Juneau reported 1.2 million cruise visitors in 2022, 124,600 by 2021 and 48 in 2020 in 2020, and 1.33 million in the year 2019. The number for 2019 set the precedent for previous records.
“This is an increase of 23% from our most successful season previously,” said Meilani Schijvens Director of Rain Coast Data, the economics firm that released the numbers.
“It was an extremely, very good season within Southeast Alaska,” Schijvens declared.
The figures, which are based on head tax per passenger determined by the City and Borough of Juneau, were published in the context of an annual report that was commissioned from Southeast Conference, the regional economic development agency to Southeast Alaska.
They are based on “manifested number of passengers,” said Juneau Port Director Carl Uchytil, so they don’t count the tens of thousands of crew members aboard the ship. These figures don’t distinguish between passengers who leave the city, and those who remain aboard the ship.
Brian Holst, director of the Juneau Economic Development Council, said that the numbers are “absolutely” positive for the community “because areas of the economy like tourism have seen a solid recovery” after the pandemic crisis.
“Businesses report either a great year or an outstanding season,” he said.
A survey conducted annually by a panel with 337 Southeast Alaska business owners found 73% of them had favorable views of the economy in the region this is the highest percentage since the survey started in 2010.
About 80percent of respondents reported that they are optimistic in 2024, too.
Tourism is responsible about 15% of all Southeast Alaska’s employment, but it only provides 9 percent of the wages Most tourist jobs have a seasonal nature, and happen in the season of cruise ships, which lasts from April to October.
State-run government work — federal, state as well as federal, local and tribal — is responsible over a quarter regional’s wages and jobs. It is the largest economic sector.
Although the number of visitors tourists is greater than what was in the year before but the number of jobs in tourism that are available in Southeast Alaska remains below what was the case in the previous record year, and so do the wages. Tourism-related employment was responsible in 12% wage earners for Southeast Alaska in 2019 before decreasing due to the epidemic.
Employers in the region continue to complain of the shortage of workers and construction workers being particularly scarce.
“Really there is a need for many more foreign workers entering America. United States and coming into Alaska to help boost the economy of Alaska,” Schijvens said.
According to the study of her firm over half of the business leaders in the region have said that the shortage of housing has resulted in the loss of employees.
Respondents to the survey also stated that the expense and accessibility of childcare was a key aspect in their inability find and keep employees.
In the last 12 months, the cost of a single family house in Juneau has risen by 52 percent, which is 22 percentage points higher than inflation in that time frame, Schjivens said. Average salaries in the city increased by 38%, eight points higher than inflation, over the same time.
Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon said of the 2023 cruise ship season “We are pleased with the the tourism however, at the same however, we recognize that our community is feeling some stress this time.”
Overcrowding and traffic have increased along with the volume of passengers as well as the City has come to an informal agreement in conjunction with cruise lines to limit the number of ships that can be accommodated per day.
A maximum of five large vessels will be allowed at any time beginning next year. Based on preliminary data released by Schjivens 50 ships have been scheduled to make an average of 660 journeys in Southeast Alaska in 2024, with the first vessel due on April 8 in Juneau and the final one due on October. 26.
It’s a continuation of the record-breaking cruise ship season that started in mid-April. Schjivens anticipates 1.7 million visitors to the capital city in the coming year, a record.
