Tourism

Alaska will offer tourists vaccinations starting on June 1 as part of the state’s plan to assist tourism-related businesses.

The Tourism Recovery bill hasn’t moved forward in either the House or Senate since its introduction last month and hasn’t attracted any sponsors beyond the Alaska delegation.

Juneau is the only regular cruise ship stop in Alaska that offers wastewater service to ships in port.

If the initial paperwork is OK, the activists will have 30 days to collect nearly 3,000 signatures from local voters to get three cruise ship questions on the fall ballot.

Dunleavy signed a resolution asking Congress and President Biden to exempt Alaska from a federal law that requires cruise ships headed to Alaska to stop in Canada.

Commerce Commissioner Julie Anderson said she’s spoken to cruise industry members who said there still could be Alaska cruises in August or September. 

Whether cruise lines will return to Alaska this summer remains an open question, but hope appears to be fading.

The city is projected to face roughly $33 million in revenue losses, but the community was allocated just $1.7 million in direct federal funding.

It’s an incremental step in the solution to a complicated issue, but it shows the state legislature supports communities that are hurting without cruise tourism this summer.

Denali had only 60,000 visitors last summer, a tenth of what the park saw pre-pandemic.