Gov. Mike Dunleavy is pushing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lift current restrictions on cruise ship travel to save the multi-million-dollar tourism season, along with a massive campaign to let America know that Alaska is open for business.
The governor said in a letter to the White House that the CDC’s recent decision to extend the 2020 “conditional sail order” through November would ensure no cruise ships will bring passengers to Alaska for the 2021 season, resulting in a staggering negative impact on the state’s economy, particularly Southeast Alaska, at a loss of over $3.3 billion.
The CDC took that action after research found that cruise ships provided high-risk territory for spreading the novel coronavirus. The state of Florida is already suing the federal government over the CDC’s decision and Dunleavy is considering joining in that litigation.
Dunleavy received support during a news conference on Friday, April 9, from former legislator Ralph Samuels, now an executive for Holland America Line and Princess Cruises, who warned that the longer the cruise ship ban continues the better the chances that cruise companies will decide on other routes for the ships for the summer season.
According to the state’s new report, “Impacts to Alaska from 2020/2021 Cruise Ship Season Cancellation,” a copy of which Dunleavy sent to the White House, the state is losing an estimated $3 billion gross state product for every year there is no cruise season.
Federal stimulus spending has helped, but the impacts of the “no sail” order are catastrophic to the economy of Southeast Alaska in particular, the report said. The federal Maritime Commission’s report on economic impact of cruising in Alaska concludes there exists an outsized economic impact from cessation of cruise activity, with revenues, taxes and jobs lost.
The other legal hazard that continues to threaten the cruise industry in Alaska this summer is the Passenger Vessel Services Act, which mandates that cruise ships with over 100 passengers heading for Alaska stop in Canada. Citing its own concerns over slowing the spread of COVID-19, Canada’s government has a ban in place through February 2022 prohibiting these ships from making that stop within their borders.
Dunleavy meanwhile touted optimism about cruise ships’ ability to maintain a safe environment for their passengers. “The cruise ships are floating cities,” Dunleavy said. “They are set up for this.”
The governor said it is anticipated that a number of travelers on these ships will have already been vaccinated against COVID-19, minimizing health risks.
We aren’t perfect,” he added. “309 people have died [in Alaska due to the virus], but the state’s hospitalization rates are some of the lowest in the country. We’re not looking for a handout, just folks to acknowledge we can do this better in Alaska than anywhere.”
Dunleavy said his administration is now working on an expansive national tourism campaign to provide major economic relief to those in Alaska’s tourism industry. Details on the tourism campaign budget and how the state will decide on the campaign contractor are still being worked out, he said.
The plan, which would require legislative approval, would include an aggressive nationwide marketing campaign.
