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Alaska’s Tourism Industry
Background
Alaska is like no other place. It has more mountains, glaciers and wildlife than just about anywhere else in the world. Alaska has become a top visitor destination and the industry has experienced steady growth as more people than ever discover Alaska.
Tourism is not an “industry” in the classical sense, but rather parts of a variety of economic sectors. The “core” tourism industry is the sectors and businesses that directly serve travelers and tourists.
Facts & Economic Impact
- In 2007, visitor volume increased 5.1 percent to 1.7 million visitors in the May-September season. The most noticeable trends in the visitor industry are attributable to the growing importance of the cruise ship industry in the overall market. Cruise ships bring more than half of all visitors to Alaska.
- Of the 1.7 million visitors, almost 60 percent or 1,029,800 were cruise ship passengers, 600,000 were air visitors and 82,200 came by vehicle.
- One in three Alaska visitors (34 percent) are now repeat travelers to the state. Many of those who return are independent travelers who made their first trip north on a cruise ship.
- Southeast Alaska attracted the greatest number of visitors at 1.2 million, followed by Southcentral at 907,000, and the Interior at 534,000, including 450,000 to Denali National Park alone. The Far North attracted the fewest visitors at 49,000.
- Seven out of the top ten visitor destinations in 2007 were the cruise ship ports of Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Seward, Sitka and Whittier. Other top ten destinations included Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks. Nearly one million cruise ship passengers disembarked in Juneau for an increase of four percent over 2006.
- Anchorage was the most popular overnight destination, attracting 41 percent of all visitors, followed by Denali at 25 percent and Fairbanks at 23 percent. Juneau accounted for only four percent of those visitors spending the night in a community.
- Summer visitors to Alaska spent over $1.5 billion on their Alaska trip in 2007, not including travel to and from the state. Expenses by cruise passengers for cruise/tour packages (such as lodging and transportation) are not reflected in these totals. Based on the average reported per person cruise price and the total volume of cruise passengers, the cruise market spent approximately $1.8 billion on cruises and cruise/tour packages in 2007. The total economic impact of the Alaska travel and tourism industry is estimated at $3.4 billion.
- The cruise ship sector has an annual $1.07 billion economic impact on Alaska. Cruising generates an estimated $767 million in direct industry spending.
- Sixty-six percent of each travel and tourism dollar spent in Alaska is retained in the state.
- The West accounted for the largest share of Alaska’s visitors at 39 percent, followed by the South at 19 percent and the East and Midwest at 13 percent each. Canada accounted for six percent of all visitors and nine percent came from other countries, especially Europe and particularly the United Kingdom.
- The proportion of the visitor market traveling to Alaska for vacation purposes has increased from 71 percent in 1993 to 82 percent in 2007 – a direct reflection of the growth in the cruise ship market.
- The average age of Alaska visitors is 51.6 years.
- The latest statistics available reveal that the tourism and hospitality industry generated 40,000 full-time equivalent jobs in Alaska last year, representing 13.7 percent of all employment in the state and 1.15 billion in wages and benefits. Seventy percent of those working in the industry are Alaska residents.
- Employment in the tourism and hospitality sector increased by ten percent between 2001 and 2005.
- Since 2003 taxes levied on the visitor industry have increased approximately 600 percent.
- The travel and tourism sector generated $130 million in state and local tax revenue, including corporate profit tax, sales tax, property tax, transportation fees and licenses.
- In addition, 46 Alaska communities collected bed taxes that range from 2-12 percent. In total, communities received in excess of $31 million from lodging taxes alone.
- In 2007 four new taxes were levied on cruise companies and their passengers, including a $46 head tax, $4 state ocean ranger tax, 33% gambling proceeds tax and a corporate profits tax. Total taxes for the year are estimated to be $75 million. In addition, cruise companies pay communities about $14 million in dockage and moorage fees each year.
- Tourism enterprises invest heavily in Alaska, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on capital expenditures, construction and operating equipment.
Web Links
Sources
- Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development
- Alaska Travel Industry Association
- Alaska Economic Performance Report
- Northwest Cruise Ship Association
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