Will Alaska Axe the Cruise Tax?

Had Alaska voters known that their decision in 2006 to levy a $50-per-passenger head tax on cruiselines would result in the dramatic pullout of several cruise ships from the Alaska market -- including those of Royal Caribbean, Cruise West, Carnival, Norwegian and Princess -- they might have thought twice about passing this initiative into law. It is estimated that Juneau alone will suffer a $25 million loss for the summer of 2010. The number of calls to Sitka will fall 53% next year from 222 to 104.

Alaskans are obviously taking notice and a grass-roots effort is under way to overturn or amend the tax. On July 24th, the First Things First Alaska Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic development, sponsored a summit in Juneau to discuss what the state needs to do to woo travelers back, particularly cruise passengers. The summit attracted more than 230 people, including legislators, mayors, tour operators and business owners. The summit did not resolve any issues, but major recomendations were made including revamping the tax and implementing a new marketing campaign aimed at drawing travelers to Alaska. A second summit is scheduled for August 20 in Anchorage, with a third summit possibly taking place in Fairbanks in September.