"tourism"

The meetings come long before the Assembly will vote to decide whether or not to approve leasing out city-owned tidelands to the Alaska Native village corporation.

The recommendations would revise tourism rules at 13 locations across town. Three of those would be locations where tourism companies haven’t been allowed before, including the Under Thunder Trail and Telephone Hill Park. 

Juneau residents and businesses can now submit proposals for how the city should spend marine passenger fees for next year. The proposal period runs through Jan. 2. 

The city has developed the seawalk in sections over the years, and this new section will extend a quarter mile south towards Thane.

Along with the port, the companies hope to develop employee housing, floatplane and whale watching docks, helicopter pads and recreate a Lingít village for passengers to visit, among other business opportunities. 

Advocates for the proposition say the reins need to be pulled on the growth of tourism, but opponents say the financial and legal implications could hurt the local economy.

The 3.3 million visitors who came to Alaska’s national park sites in 2023 spent about $1.5 billion in the local regions, according to the Park Service’s annual visitor spending effects report.

James Houck has operated Juneau Pedicab — a company that offers tours from behind his bicycle — for seven years.

The ceremony was the result of 18 months of planning by tribal leaders, who are hoping to revive the town’s flagging economy with tourism.

The first ship of the year — the Norwegian Bliss — arrived early Tuesday morning.