The last cruise ship of the season came through Juneau in mid-September, ending a season which begins in May each year. Throughout the summer there were typically three or four large cruise ships at the docks or at anchor in Juneau's harbor.
From Alaska Port Reviews.
Rough preliminary estimates from the industry suggest the number of passengers touring to Alaska were up by about 40,000 from last year, bringing the total close to 1,000,000 for the season:
Year to year percentage increases have been declining through time:
The Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, has released a useful report on the Southeast Alaska economy, with a section on the cruise industry: The Regional Economy of Southeast Alaska. Most cruise passengers are coming to Southeast.
Crikey, Ben, that's an astonishing growth rate. The second graph seems to show the annual growth is asymptotic to 5%. That's, for example, the growth rate of the Korean economy from 1980 to 2000. A serious management problem. Pretty soon, I venture, Alaska will have to either:
(a) Increase port charges by $m per day to slow down growth, or..
(b) Succeed from the Union and start issuing its own visas, or...
(c) Sell Juneau to the cruise lines, possibly in return for Seattle
Posted by: Peter Gallagher | October 08, 2007 at 03:04 PM
Sorry... typing running ahead of brain. I meant 'SECEDE', of course.
P
Posted by: Peter Gallagher | October 08, 2007 at 03:07 PM
This was a very interesting post. I'd be curious to see what the trends are now giving the current economic climate. It seems that cruise lines must be getting hit pretty hard.
Posted by: David "loves to cruise Alaska" Rogers | February 16, 2009 at 03:41 PM
SouthSeattleJoe is laboring under the fantasy that any of the money you spend on a cruise ends up staying in Alaska. If you go to a local bar or..
Posted by: r4 | February 10, 2010 at 03:12 AM