VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 | FALL 2025
VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 | FALL 2025
ALASKA TOURISM BRAND CONTINUES RESILIENCE
Cruise ship visitors, winter travel options touted by ATIA BY TIM BRADNER
TOUR INDUSTRY LEADERS ARE STILL AS- SESSING RESULTS OF THE 2025 SEASON WITH A FOCUS ON THE FUTURE. VISITOR NUMBERS WERE DOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS BUT THERE WERE ENCOURAGING SIGNS IN PARTS OF THE INDUSTRY. THE ALASKA TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (ATIA) PRESENTED ITS DATA IN THE ASSOCIATION’S RECENT ANNUAL CONVENTION IN ANCHORAGE. ATIA said passengers on cruise ships voyaging to Alaska appear level to last year at about 1.7 million visitors, said Jillian Simpson, CEO of ATIA. That’s encouraging because cruise travelers provide a founda- tion for the visitor industry. A flat season indicates stability in an important sector of the visitor industry. However, airline passengers were down 3.4% for the season, indicating a likely de- cline in independent travelers, Simpson said. This is important because indepen- dent travelers tend to spend more in Alaska than cruise passengers because they make their own arrangements for hotels, car rent- als and in-state tours, many of these owned and operated by Alaskans. Cruise passengers, in contrast, stay mostly on their ships except for shore ex- cursions while the vessels visit coastal com- munities. Many cruise passengers do go on to travel in the state after arriving by ship. However, many of these excursions are booked through affiliates of the cruise com- panies although side trips and often done with locally-owned firms, Simpson said. The downturn this year among inde- pendent travelers is generally attributed to economic uncertainties over President Trump’s policies on the economy, worries over increasing inflation and a possible
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recession. All of those dampen consumer spending and decisions on vacations, ac- cording to the ATIA. This is particularly felt among independent travelers who tend to make decisions near the time they travel and are thus more influenced by short-term worries over the economic situation. Another indicator of independent trav- el came in ATIA’s data for winter 2025 vis- itors, which were down 5.5% from winter 2024, Simpson said. The winter 2025 num- ber came mostly in the first and second quarter of the year and at the time there was rising concern over Trump’s policies on the economy. Prior to this year, win- ter tourism was showing strong growth, Simpson said. Cruise visitors usually book reserva- tions on ships well in advance and generally are less influenced by short-term economic trends, at least in passenger numbers. How- ever, cruise passengers, are not immune from worries about the economy. While their cruises may have been booked and paid for well in advance, cruise passengers likely tighten their spending while in Alas- ka. Data on this for 2025 is not yet available,
according to ATIA. However, there is information on re- gional visitor spending which may be in- dicative. “Through the end of September, visitor spending is down 1% overall in the Mat-Su Borough. Visitors accounted for 19% of all spending in the Mat-Su Borough, down from 20% at this point last year,” said Ca- sey Ressler, CEO of the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau. There are counter-trends, though. “The interesting thing is that short- term rental bookings (typically by visitors) are actually up 12% through the end of September. I think this indicates that peo- ple are still traveling, but their concerns about the economy are making them spend less. We’ve seen similar data and stories from other destinations in Alaska as well,” Ressler said. Overall, the Alaska “brand” for visitors shows continued strength. Even in uncer- tain times, domestic vacation travel re- mains strong and Alaska remains attractive for Americans because of its scenery, wild- life and diverse cultural history.
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ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW FALL 2025
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