Doing business with the cruise lines
Want to do business with the cruise lines? The Alaska Office of Economic Development can help.
The office developed an educational DVD called "Navigating Tourism Business Opportunities with the Alaska Cruise Industry." The DVD features information and advice from Alaska cruise industry representatives and Alaskan tour operators. The video is designed to help tourism entrepreneurs learn about the process and the steps necessary to work with the cruise lines and potentially secure a cruise line contract for their tourism business. Some of the topics covered include: developing a proposal, pricing your tourism product, how the planning cycle works in the Alaska cruise industry and the expectations that cruise lines require from potential business owners (i.e. safety, insurance, etc.).
Funding for this project was provided through a USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant and project partners, including the Alaska Office of Economic Development, the Alaska Cruise Association and the Alaska Channel.
To obtain a free copy of the "Navigating Tourism Business Opportunities with the Alaska Cruise Industry" DVD, contact Dru Garson, Office of Economic Development, (907) 465-2162, or the Alaska Cruise Association, (907) 743-4529. The video can also be downloaded and viewed at the Department of Commerce website.
Alaska at a glance
Jeffrey Olsen, owner of Absolute Fresh Seafoods Inc. in Sitka, is one of the thousands of small Alaska businesses that depend on cruise visitors. “Cruise visitors are a huge part of my business,” Olsen said.
In 2010, Alaska accounted for $930 million in direct cruise industry spending, down from $1.02 billion in 2009, according to CLIA. That spending generated 21,305 full- and part-time jobs and wages totaling $850 million for Alaska workers. During peak season, cruise lines employed more than 5,000 workers in the state. Passenger and crew spending averaged $101 per person per visit in 2010, for an estimated total of $481 million.
While cruise passengers were down in 2009 and 2010, signs of improvement began to appear in 2011, after the state reduced its $46 head tax to $34.50. While there were 152,000 fewer passengers than in 2008, the year of peak Alaska cruise traffic, Disney and Oceania added Alaska cruises to their itineraries, and four new ships – Disney Wonder, Crystal Symphony, Oceania Regatta and Silversea Silver Shadow – partially offset the loss of two ships that were pulled from Alaska for the season. Nearly 940,000 passengers are projected to cruise Alaska in 2012.
Where the numbers come from
2010 CLIA State Fact Sheets (PDF)
2010 CLIA Economic Study (PDF)
2011 AEDC Economic Forecast (PDF)
State of Alaska March 2011 Visitor Volume Report (PDF)
June 2011 Alaska Economic Trends (PDF)
2011 CLIA Market Profile (PDF)
2011 CLIA Cruise Market Overview (PDF)
2011 CLIA Lifestyle Trends Survey (PDF)
2011 CLIA Sourcebook (PDF)
2012 CLIA Sourcebook (PDF)