Alaska city puts limit on how many cruise passengers can visit

[Kennywood]

Alaska city puts limit on how many cruise passengers can visit after being overwhelmed by tourists last year​

The capital city of Alaska will set new limits on how many cruise ship passengers can visit every day after a post-pandemic deluge of tourism.

Last year the roughly 32,000 residents of Juneau weathered hordes of hikers, schools of whale watchers, and swarms of overflying helicopters as roughly 1.6m visitors in total – or up to 21,000 per day in peak periods – disembarked at the docks.

Now the city government has signed a voluntary agreement with the cruise ship industry that caps the number of vessels allowed to dock each day, starting in 2026.

The agreement limits daily docking to ships with a cumulative 16,000 beds on Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 beds on Saturdays, although the number of actual visitors will sometimes be larger because cruise ships often exceed their listed capacity.

"The city’s position is that we do not have room for cruise growth with our current infrastructure, and we have negotiated the daily passenger limits to bring down our busiest days," city tourism manager Alexandra Pierce told The Guardian.

"Cruise tourism is important for our local and regional economies, and we need to be good neighbors while also finding the balance between concerned residents and the local livelihoods that depend on the visitor industry."



But some locals believe the new limits are insufficient, and are pushing for a ballot measure that would reduce the limit to 250 beds on Saturdays and July 4, effectively banning most passenger ships on those days.

"All we are seeking is one day a week, plus the Fourth of July, when locals can go downtown, visit the glacier, hike on our trails, and go fishing without competing with thousands and thousands of cruise passengers," said supporter Steve Krall last week, according to The Juneau Empire.

"This is a modest and reasonable request: a simple day of rest for everyone."

Other residents have opposed the ballot measure, arguing that cruise ships bring in enormous amounts of consumer spending and tax revenue that the city and its people cannot afford to pass up.

Juneau, a former gold mining town shielded from the Pacific Ocean by the rocky labyrinth of the Alexander Archipelago, bills itself as the single most popular whale-watching destination in the world and has a tourist season lasting roughly 22 weeks.

Between 2022 and 2023, the number of cruise ship passengers visiting Juneau rose by 44 percent, according to The Alaska Beacon, which Pierce said was "shocking" and sometimes "suffocating" for many residents.

The new agreement is reportedly intended to keep tourist numbers roughly steady, giving the city more time to expand its infrastructure while incorporating enough of a delay that cruise lines can adapt their future schedules.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...1&cvid=f09e3718ee2f4fb0cbde1cea8077e165&ei=23

 

[OKW Lover]

I wonder how the local businesses that cater to the cruise visitors like this.

 

[auntlynne]

As a tourist, I know I try to avoid tourist-heavy days and places.

This restriction goes in effect in the future - not changing itineraries for imminent vacations.

They aren’t saying No cruises or even severely limiting daily numbers (like Bar Harbor, whose limits effectively ban even the smaller main cruise line ships). Just certain days with reduced numbers.

Seems like sound planning. This may change how many ships are deployed or cause other ports to be overloaded; that’s a wait and see. As cruising has become more popular with larger capacity ships, there’s bound to be a need for limits.

Check out Greece’s thinking on this.

 

[Karin1984]

Not the first city, and probably not the last. overtourism is a big issue.

Key West wants to limit cruises, Venice has been trying to reduce their tourist streams for years and Amsterdam thinks about limiting cruise ships as well.

Today residents in Calo des Moro (Mallorca, Spain) made sure tourists couldn't get to their Instagram-worthy beaches.
There are active campaigns to discourage Brits from certain cities/places in Europe.

 

[disneylandlocal]

I hope Sitka does this next. It is a nightmare on the heavy cruise days and a disservice to residents (even those working in the cruise industry) and cruise tourists.

 

[lilsonicfan]

When we were in Juneau in 2023, we took the public bus up to Mendenhall and had to endure an extremely long and angry lecture from a disgruntled bus driver about the horrors of cruise tourists on their economy and on the bus system specifically. "People need this bus to get to work!" - the bus was not full at any point in time, even with about 10 of us going up to Mendenhall... also, it's PUBLIC transportation. I was fuming. I am from Vancouver, I understand the pressures that tourism can have, but it's also a vital part of the economy. I'm all for planning, but maybe these cities need to figure out whether their citizens might do better without cruises at all.

 

[wabbott]

"Boom towns" have been a part of human history since the beginning. Salt caravans and trade routes, gold rush towns, copper and other mining booms, tourist attractions - people always go to where the money and the job opportunities are.

Orlando, FL was a middling small city until Disney came along.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When we were in Juneau in 2023, we took the public bus up to Mendenhall and had to endure an extremely long and angry lecture from a disgruntled bus driver about the horrors of cruise tourists on their economy and on the bus system specifically. "People need this bus to get to work!" - the bus was not full at any point in time, even with about 10 of us going up to Mendenhall... also, it's PUBLIC transportation. I was fuming. I am from Vancouver, I understand the pressures that tourism can have, but it's also a vital part of the economy. I'm all for planning, but maybe these cities need to figure out whether their citizens might do better without cruises at all.

There's a balance on public transit between locals trying to get to work, home and other places and tourists largely attempting to just get to touristy locations. Kyoto as I'm sure many have heard, have been really struggling with this. Their locals cannot get to work or really many places because their public transit is overrun with tourists. They've launched a tourist route that while is more expensive than other public transit does not stop at as many places and is more designed to hit those higher tourist locations.

Public transit doesn't mean it can't be overwhelmed. It may have not been busy when you were specifically on this bus but obviously that bus driver has had more experience on his route to see that it can be busy.

I think Alaska is a bit more unique because for many tourists the way they see it is by cruising so there's less options available to them that balance that tourism money and way of life for locals. Capping is probably the easiest first step. Investing in transit options that might ease overcrowding do take money and may not be as realistic for some of those communities in Alaska either. It's harder to get that win-win situation up there IMO.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We have friends that live on the other side of the bridge from Juneau on Douglas Island. We went and visited them and saw it through local eyes. Juneau is great, food is REALLY expensive, and there is so much to see if you slow down and appreciate it. That is NOT the cruise experience as we found out on a DCL years later. The shore excursions race you off for the limited time you get there so you really don't see Juneau. If you do just get off the boat without doing an excursion, you likely only see the liquor stores, bars and tourist shops that are near the dock - and those are REALLY depressing! Ketchikan was much more enjoyable with lots of great things to see within easy walking distance.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Public transit doesn't mean it can't be overwhelmed. It may have not been busy when you were specifically on this bus but obviously that bus driver has had more experience on his route to see that it can be busy.

Look, entirely possible. We intentionally tried to avoid "rush hour" type of times. I think the wrong move was for him to scream at all of us about how we were ruining his town. Presumably it's far worse overall for cruise stops to have people not engage with the local economy at all. I'm not suggesting Juneau is making a wrong move here, but clearly there's a disconnect between locals who maybe don't want cruise stops at all such as this driver, and the city wanting tourism dollars.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Look, entirely possible. We intentionally tried to avoid "rush hour" type of times. I think the wrong move was for him to scream at all of us about how we were ruining his town. Presumably it's far worse overall for cruise stops to have people not engage with the local economy at all. I'm not suggesting Juneau is making a wrong move here, but clearly there's a disconnect between locals who maybe don't want cruise stops at all such as this driver, and the city wanting tourism dollars.

I don't think I vouched for the driver's behavior but it doesn't make his comments untrue just because you didn't see for it yourself. It's been pretty well covered that many places around the world are running into over tourism creating a strain on local resources. There's not really a disconnect, there's a practical understanding that some places have a higher percentage of their economy (which can be a matter of survival not want) coming from tourism which can (and in the last several years has) lead/led to issues for the locals, whether it's housing, transportation, ability to enjoy their area, etc. It sounds like you may be personally affronted maybe because he said it to your face, a cruise passenger, but try not to take it that way if you can. All of us who visit places either by land or sea can contribute to over tourism and it's okay to be aware of that.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I don't think I vouched for the driver's behavior

Didn't suggest you did.

 

[Akck]

When we were in Juneau in 2023, we took the public bus up to Mendenhall and had to endure an extremely long and angry lecture from a disgruntled bus driver about the horrors of cruise tourists on their economy and on the bus system specifically. "People need this bus to get to work!" - the bus was not full at any point in time, even with about 10 of us going up to Mendenhall... also, it's PUBLIC transportation. I was fuming. I am from Vancouver, I understand the pressures that tourism can have, but it's also a vital part of the economy. I'm all for planning, but maybe these cities need to figure out whether their citizens might do better without cruises at all.

That was totally uncalled for. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a bus filled up at any time. Especially since you were traveling in the opposite direction commuters would travel and not likely during commuting times.

 

[tvguy]

I wonder how the local businesses that cater to the cruise visitors like this.

I suspect they are on board with it since I suspect the crowds are overwhelming them too.

 

[Karin1984]

Currently the peak days in Juneau are around 21,000 people a day and they are going to limit it to 16,000 on Sunday - Friday and 12,000 on Saturday.
So that is about 3-4 ships per day. 1-2 ships less than it was. So probably the shopkeepers and local economy will be fine.

Although there are also people who want a cruiseship-free Saturday and July 4th.
Must be nice that on your day off not to fight for a space within your own city.

More and more people cruise, which results in more and bigger ships, but the amount of visitors a city can comfortably handle per day stays the same. The amount of cities to travel to can change a bit, but probably most cities that want to be a port most likely already are.

And that is the thing with overtourism. Whether it is cruise ports or beautiful beaches, you cannot expand the destination. Demand can go up all it wants, that doesn't mean the supply will be there.

 

[OpieDoodle]

Currently the peak days in Juneau are around 21,000 people a day and they are going to limit it to 16,000 on Sunday - Friday and 12,000 on Saturday.
So that is about 3-4 ships per day. 1-2 ships less than it was. So probably the shopkeepers and local economy will be fine.

Although there are also people who want a cruiseship-free Saturday and July 4th.
Must be nice that on your day off not to fight for a space within your own city.

More and more people cruise, which results in more and bigger ships, but the amount of visitors a city can comfortably handle per day stays the same. The amount of cities to travel to can change a bit, but probably most cities that want to be a port most likely already are.

And that is the thing with overtourism. Whether it is cruise ports or beautiful beaches, you cannot expand the destination. Demand can go up all it wants, that doesn't mean the supply will be there.

I think your last sentence really hits the nail on the head. Demand can be as high as it wants but there has to be the supply there to meet the demand. If there isn't the supply then it is what it is. This happens in a lot of tourist type destinations. Some places simply cannot handle the huge influx. They don't have the space, road ways, resources, etc. Especially with the cruise industry booming and making larger and larger mega ships. The mega ships may help meet the demand for the cruise line but doesn't really help if the area cannot handle that amount of passenger load.

 

[Snowwhyt]

I see the price of Alaska sailings going up from this.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Most of the businesses of Juneau that cater to tourists import labor from the lower 48 for the summer as it is, which creates its own issues of housing. The year-round population in Juneau and nearby are not handling the industry on their own - as is true in many other areas, all of which have similar or worse issues around stuff like housing and infrastructure.

 

[OpieDoodle]

I see the price of Alaska sailings going up from this.

I agree completely. I'm not sure DCL will change as they only have one ship up there regardless but I do feel this is greatly going to impact the companies with multiple ships. For example, we are sailing Princess to Alaska next summer and there are 4 ships they sail up there. That's really going to impact them and the others that have much cheaper pricing because of the number of ships they have.