{"id":5135,"date":"2020-10-20T16:52:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T20:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=5135"},"modified":"2020-10-20T16:52:50","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T20:52:50","slug":"commissioner-sola-issues-report-examining-economic-impacts-of-cancelled-cruise-season-to-northwestern-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/commissioner-sola-issues-report-examining-economic-impacts-of-cancelled-cruise-season-to-northwestern-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Commissioner Sola Issues Report Examining Economic Impacts of Cancelled Cruise Season to Northwestern States"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The latest <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.fmc.gov\/readingroom\/docs\/FFno30\/20-20_AK_WA_OR_FF30_Final_Interim_Report.pdf\/\">Fact Finding 30 Interim Report<\/a> issued by Commissioner Louis Sola chronicles the significant economic impact the canceled 2020 cruise season is having on Alaskan citizens and tourism related businesses.\u00a0 The report concludes that when considered on a per capita basis, there may not be another state in the Nation paying as high a cost from passenger ships not sailing than Alaska.<\/p>\n<p>The report issued today examines the economic impact of COVID-19 on the cruise industry in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon.\u00a0 It is the second report Commissioner Sola has issued in what will be a series examining economic impacts to specific geographic regions.\u00a0 As part of the report\u2019s information gathering, Commissioner Sola traveled to Anchorage, Whittier, and Seward where he met with elected officials, port directors, business executives, and labor leaders.\u00a0 The report he issued examines 16 Alaskan ports as well as ports in Seattle and Astoria, Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important to this <a href=\"\/fact-finding-30\/\">Fact Finding<\/a> to visit the cities and regions where cruising is part of the economy, hear from those affected, and report on the consequences of vessels not operating. While tourism benefits all our Northwestern states, it is one of three pillars of the Alaskan economy.\u00a0 Passenger cruising is a vital part of the Alaskan tourism business and the loss of an entire cruise season has led to the loss of revenue for a disproportionate number of Alaskans,\u201d said Commissioner Sola.<\/p>\n<p>Alaska\u2019s economy rests on three key industries: energy, fishing, and tourism. \u00a0The last category has been a growth industry for Alaska, with the number of visitors increasing 45% from 1.5 million in 2010 to 2.2 million in 2019.\u00a0 Pleasure cruising is an important part of the tourism sector, in 2019, 1.3 million people traveled on cruise ships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2019, twice as many people than the number who live in the state came to Alaska and took a cruise.\u00a0 With the suspension of the cruise season, the economic activity of 1.3 million was wiped out of the Alaskan economy for the year.\u00a0 Under the best of circumstances and in any other state, there would be no disguising the consequences of losing that much revenue.\u00a0\u00a0 In Alaska, in the context of the cruise industry, the consequences are greatly exacerbated,\u201d said Commissioner Sola.<\/p>\n<p>Cruise ship operations create unique commercial opportunities for Alaska residents and businesses.\u00a0 Some port facilities and terminals exist solely to support passenger vessels.\u00a0 There is a segment of the hotel sector that specializes in serving cruise vessels, building lodging facilities only accessible to passenger vessels.\u00a0 Like other locations in the United States, cruise passengers spend on a variety of activities such as dining, lodging, transportation, and shopping that support the local economy and infrastructure.\u00a0 \u00a0The difference between Alaska and other states is that in many locations, the cruise industry may be the only economic driver.<\/p>\n<p>Another economic consequence of the loss of the 2020 Alaska cruise season is the missed direct contribution the cruise companies make to the state.\u00a0 In addition to providing services to tourists, cruise companies operating in Alaska base thousands of crew members in the state.\u00a0 Those seasonal residents pay rent, shop in grocery stores, eat in restaurants, and purchase services. \u00a0Furthermore, cruise lines and their subsidiaries, spend close to $300 million in procuring goods and services from Alaska-based companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf a ship does not call, especially at some of the smaller cruise focused ports in Alaska, people do not make money.\u00a0 If there is no cruise ship in port, there is no work for the longshoremen.\u00a0 If there is no cruise ship in port, no one is shopping in local businesses or eating in local restaurants.\u00a0 If there is no cruise ship in port, landside tour companies have no clients.\u00a0 In major metropolitan areas with major seaports, there will more likely be other opportunities for people to pursue while they wait for cruise ships to begin operating again.\u00a0 In many places in Alaska, the cruise business is the local industry.\u00a0 These are cities of hundreds, or a few thousand, residents.\u00a0 The people, businesses, and ports in those locations are facing the unenviable challenge of what to do before next year\u2019s cruise season,\u201d said Commissioner Sola.<\/p>\n<p>The economic impact to municipalities and the state is also significant and not only because of the loss of tax revenues to the general fund.\u00a0 Cruise ships operating in Alaska waters, and passengers aboard those vessels, are subject to a variety of fees that finance necessary cruise industry infrastructure as well as environmental conservation efforts that protect areas in which the ships operate.\u00a0 The Commercial Vessel Passenger Tax, the Commercial Passenger Vessel Environmental Compliance Program, and the Ocean Ranger Program, all rely on fee payments tied directly to cruise companies and cruise passengers.<\/p>\n<p>Alaska is served by more than just the major cruise lines.\u00a0 Smaller operators that are U.S.-based companies or who sail U.S. flagged ships also serve the Alaska market.<\/p>\n<p>The nature of the Alaska cruise industry ties that state to Washington and Oregon.\u00a0 The Port of Seattle is the homeport for many cruise ships and more than one million individuals fly in and out of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to take cruise voyages.\u00a0 The hotel, ground transportation, and tourism sectors have all been affected by the cessation of cruise operations in general and the suspension of the Alaska season in particular.\u00a0 Similarly, the Port of Astoria, Oregon has weathered an economic impact as a result of lost cruise business.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Alaska cruise season is short, lasting approximately only five months.\u00a0 While the 2020 season is lost, there is hope for the 2021 season.\u00a0 Companies and port authorities are focused on the steps necessary to safely return to full operations and to provide cruise customers with the assurances necessary to be confident again boarding a vessel.\u00a0 Better than most, the men and women who are government officials, port executives, and tourism leaders know what is at stake and are doing what they must to limit their losses and welcome back cruise passengers,\u201d said Commissioner Sola.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest Fact Finding 30 Interim Report issued by Commissioner Louis Sola chronicles the significant economic impact the canceled 2020 cruise season is having on Alaskan citizens and tourism related businesses.\u00a0 The report concludes that when considered on a per capita basis, there may not be another state in the... <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"\/commissioner-sola-issues-report-examining-economic-impacts-of-cancelled-cruise-season-to-northwestern-states\/\">Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,31],"tags":[42],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5136,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5135\/revisions\/5136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fmc.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}