In Alaskan towns bolstered by cruise tourism, worries about another cancelled season loom
On a typical summer day in Ketchikan, Alaska, crowds of up to 600 cruise-goers would gather to watch The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. The audience roars as two teams of bearded lumberjacks clad in flannel saw logs, throw axes, and race up towering wooden poles. Some lucky guests even get to join the action and chop wood with the team. In summer of 2019, there were almost 700 performances.
In 2020, there were none.
“We’re devastated,” said Rob Scheer, the CEO. “We, like many other companies, are on the brink of disaster.”
The pandemic’s disruption of tourism has devastated places like Ketchikan whose economies rely on the cruise industry and the spending it brings. The town has lost more than 1.2 million visitors during the pandemic — over a hundred times its population — according to the local visitors bureau. The prospects for this year’s summer season remain bleak: Due to a Canadian ban on cruising until February 2022 and American maritime regulations, no major vessels can currently go north to Alaska.
Downtown Ketchikan (Source: TripAdvisor.com)
Travel is one of Alaska’s biggest industries, employing one in ten residents statewide. Before COVID-19, it had grown steadily each year. In the last peak season before the pandemic, more than 2 million guests admired the region’s natural beauty and unique cultures. The majority arrived by cruise ship, making stops in the small cities along Alaska’s coast. The growth has been a boon to these otherwise limited economies.
“Alaska being a resource state, most industries are about extraction, extraction, extraction: cut down the trees, take out the gold, the oil, the fish, the fur,” said Scheer. “The cruise industry doesn’t extract anything. It shares our treasure with the outside world.”
But when the pandemic hit, the cruise industry tanked. Due to their tight confines and poor ventilation systems, the ships were some of the first hotspots for the virus. In February 2020, the world’s eyes were on vessels like the Diamond Princess as hundreds of vacationers tested positive for the mysterious virus. Entire ships quarantined for weeks before disembarking. Some bounced between ports until they found local governments that would accept their passengers. Voyages halted for the remainder of the year.
The halt hit Alaska hard. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal income in the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector fell by almost half in 2020’s peak season, compared to the year prior. For hotel and restaurant workers, income fell by over a third.
Towns like Ketchikan felt the impact disproportionately, according to Kerri Hassett, a representative from the local visitors bureau. The rut has cost the town four in ten jobs. Most of the retail shops dotting downtown, selling souvenirs and jewelry, are shuttered. Over a third of tour operators, who run adventure tours for whale watching, zip lining, and sightseeing, stayed closed last season. Others ran limited operations.
“We lost over half of our business,” said Lesley Kamm, co-owner of Seawind Aviation, a seaplane charter company that offers sightseeing tours around Southeast Alaska. “Thankfully, we have some local bookings, but a lot of places in town don’t have enough business to survive. And now it looks like we’re going into a second year of no ships.”
For the rest of the cruise industry, there is hope for this year. Most brands will set sail worldwide by summer, requiring negative COVID tests and masks for passengers, according to CruiseCritic.com.
But Alaska’s cruise industry is different. According to U.S. maritime law, foreign-registered ships — as most cruise liners are — are required to stop in an international port before transporting passengers between American cities. Usually this isn’t a problem, as cruises headed north to Alaska from cities like Seattle could simply stop in Vancouver to fulfill the requirement. But this year the Canadian Tourism Ministry recently extended their cruise ban until next March. With no stop in Canada, most cruise ships cannot currently travel between the continental United States and Alaska.
Alaskan lawmakers are lobbying to remove this obstacle. This week, the state’s senators proposed the “Alaska Tourism Recovery Act.” Under its rules, trips between Alaska and Washington will qualify as foreign, and thus face no fines. Representatives from Ketchikan’s Visitors Bureau participated in the hearings.
The state is hoping for a comeback. On its tourism website, Governor Mike Dunleavy beckons tourists to “Break free and make 2021 their Alaska year.” This bill will determine whether hundreds of thousands will be able to.
Still, cruises remain a high-risk endeavor while COVID-19 remains a public health threat. The CDC advises against all cruise travel. If even a semblance of the normal season returns this year, coordinating visits to towns like Ketchikan will require a series of logistical feats to prevent and contain outbreaks. Beyond testing and mask mandates for passengers, there is the challenge of minimizing contact between passengers and Ketchikan locals, as well as visitors on other ships.
Because of this uncertainty, travelers won’t necessarily return even if cruises are allowed. At least, not yet.
“A lot of people are skeptical about cruising this year — they want to feel more confident,” said Kamm of Seawind Aviation. “We’re getting more reservations for 2022.”