HIGHLIGHTS: VISITORS BACK TO PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS WITH MORE GROWTH EXPECTED IN 2024. INDEPENDENT TRAVEL HELPED BRIDGE PANDEMIC CANCELLATION OF CRUISE SHIPS AND INCREASED IN 2021 AND 2022. WINTER TOURISM GROWING, PARTICULARLY IN INTERIOR ALASKA. MODERATOR: JILLIAN SIMPSON, President/CEO, Alaska Travel Industry Association PANEL: n JOSHUA HOWES, Premier Alaska Tours n RENEE REEVE, Vice President, CLIA – Alaska n SCOTT MCCREA, President & CEO, Explore Fairbanks n DAVID ALBERT, Deputy Regional Director, National Park Service KEY POINTS: n Visitors returned to 2019 levels, and higher n Spending reached $3.9 billion n Concerns over cruise ship ballot propositions n Winter tourism now a staple in Interior DISCUSSION: Renee Reeve, Cruise Lines International Association-Alaska: “We’re back to where we were three years ago, but there has been a big jump in 2023,” because the 2020 cruse season was cancelled and 2021 and 2022 were gradual recovery years. Had COVID not happened the community support services would have grown to comfortably handle the increase in 2023. There have been some bumps. “You can’t bring 1.67 million visitors back without some impacts,” Reeve said. This has created a push for ballot initiatives in coastal communities to limit cruise ships. This could cause ripple effects all through coastal communities because limits in one community will affect scheduled stops further along. “This could be devastating,” she said. For 2024, the cruise industry will be working with the communities on ways to mitigate impacts. Joshua Howes, of Premier Alaska Tours, said his firm accommodates independent travelers and conducts also land tours for itself and other operators. There was a boom of independent travel to Alaska during the COVID years when cruises were shut down, Howes said. During the lockdown, “the American public wanted to get out of the house,” and with international travel restricted domestic destinations like Hawaii and Alaska benefitted. In 2023 returned to normal and the surge in independents has somewhat abated with more destinations reopening and cruise ships operating again. Premier’s small tours operate in many parts of the state, so housing is less a problem in communities where employees live but is still a problem in Interior Alaska, Howes said. Still, he hopes to secure the use of student dormitories at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, less used in the summer, for visitor industry employees. Scott McCrea, Explore Fairbanks: The 2023 season was good, not quite back to 2019. “We still have another month to count for 2023,” he said. September was a record-breaking month for passenger arrivals at Fairbanks International Airport. There were weeks during summer when hotels were fully booked but other weeks when rooms were available. ALASKA’S TOURISM INDUSTRY: ALASKA’S GATEWAY 24 ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW WINTER 2024
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