Anchorage Daily News

Cruise-ship passengers and crew members spent an estimated $530 million in the state last year, or almost $100 on average per visit, according to a new study by the cruise industry on its economic impact.

While air fare and cruise tickets typically don't get spent in the state, the spending in Alaska comes from flight seeing and other shore excursions, lodging before or after the cruise, restaurant food and beverages, and shopping for souvenirs, the new report by the Cruise Lines International Association said.

Direct spending by the cruise industry serving Alaska totaled $1.2 billion that year, ranking Alaska third among the states, behind Florida and California, the report said.

But while Florida and California are launching pads for passengers leaving the country on a cruise, Alaska is the top cruise destination in the country, the report said.

About 1.2 million tourists came to or left Alaska on a cruise ship, accounting for about 60 percent of all the summer visitors last year, the Alaska Travel Industry Association estimated this month.

As for Alaskans taking cruises, 8,000 of them did last year, accounting for one out of every 1,000 U.S. passengers, the Cruise Lines International report said.

Other economic impacts on Alaska, according to the report:

• About 4,000 full- or part-time jobs for cruise-tour companies. About 25,000 full- and part-time jobs as a result of passenger and crew spending. These include jobs at hotels, flight-seeing services, gift shops, etc.

• The $1.2 billion in Alaska direct spending by the industry last year was 7 percent of all U.S. direct spending for cruises.

• The $1.2 billion was up 11 percent from 2006.

• Noncruise tourism businesses -- tour operators, hotels, airlines, etc. -- got an estimated $845 million of the $1.2 billion, while construction firms, trucking companies, employment agencies, utilities and food processors together got another $98 million.

ADVERTISEMENT