FAIRBANKS -- More cruise ships will be traveling to the Gulf of Alaska this summer, and that means more tourists should end up visiting Interior Alaska.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner says the assertion was made Tuesday by Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau president Deb Hickok in a presentation at a Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

Hickok says the road to economic recovery has been a little rocky. After visitor numbers in Alaska peaked at 1.7 million people in 2008, they bottomed out at 1.56 million in 2009.

Hickok says she's wary of predicting tourism trends for the years ahead but says some major segments of the industry appear to be moving in a good direction.

Tourism provides an estimated $115 million in direct expenditures to the Fairbanks economy.