Alaska’s tourism outlook is rosy
December 11, 2014
Nationally, tourism gained 4 percent over 2013 and grew to a $887.9 billion spend in the same time period. International travel has grown more than twice that, up 11 percent over 2012. With multiplier effects taken into consideration, tourism has a $2.1 trillion economic impact on the United States. In Alaska, tourism grew to a record high of 1.96 million visitors in 2013, a 7 percent gain over 2012 – the biggest since 2005-06. The year looks to be strong, nearly at or above 2013 levels. Visitor spending in Alaska rose to $3.9 billion in the same time period (2012-13). Cruise traffic, having had a slight downturn in 2014 (-3.3 percent), looks to rebound for 2015 (+2.8 percent) due to larger ships and more arrivals in Anchorage, Seward and Juneau. Holland America’s Amsterdam will make a record nine appearances in Anchorage next summer, bringing thousands of guests and crew ashore each call. As ship sizes continue to grow, and passenger levels rise, the impact on local transportation, retail, hospitality and commercial airlines will require adjustments to manage these new capacities. Air traffic was also up this year 6.7 percent for Alaska overall, with Juneau up significantly (16.3 percent) and Anchorage down slightly (-2.5 percent). The 2015 outlook for air travel is strong, anticipating a 2-3 percent overall gain as Alaska continues to be a “bucket list” destination for leisure travelers and a growing destination for business travelers. The website travelalaska.org, which markets Alaska as a tourism destination, saw a record 2.5 million visits and the international/translated versions of the site (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, German and Spanish) continue to grow. Traffic on the website is indicative of worldwide travelers’ ever-growing interest in seeing the wonders of Alaska. Glaciers, wildlife and mountains speak their own international language. Alaska will continue to market strongly to the cruise industry, seeking to maintain and increase the current 5.5 percent market share now held by Alaska cruise destinations. As Asian cruise markets grow, Alaska will have to continue to compete to keep current ship travel in state, and expand to meet the growing demands. Tourism has rebounded nicely since the 2009 drop, steadily increasing year-to-year to record highs in 2013, with a bright outlook for the 2014 year-end and into 2015. The Resource Development Council’s conference in Anchorage was held November 19th-20th. According to CLIA Alaska's 2015 Port Schedule, in 2015, KEtchikan will play host to 462 cruise ship visits spanning the period from May through September. In 2013, Ketchikan was host to 466 cruise ship visits according to Cruise Port Insider.
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