Current:Home > BackAlaska set to limit daily number of cruise ship passengers who can visit Juneau-LoTradeCoin
Alaska set to limit daily number of cruise ship passengers who can visit Juneau
View Date:2024-12-24 10:26:19
Cruise aficionados looking to experience Alaska's capital, Juneau, may have to vie for permission to disembark and step foot on land, under a new agreement between the city and major cruise lines that sail there.
The agreement between Juneau and Cruise Lines International Association in Alaska (CLIA), finalized last week, seeks to limit the number of daily cruise passengers who can arrive in Juneau to 16,000 on Sundays through Fridays, and to 12,000 on Saturdays, effective in 2026.
The measure intends to limit the congestion and wear and tear tourists can cause a city. Visitors to Juneau skyrocketed to a record 1.6 million last year, after the pandemic depressed numbers for two years. Other popular cities have taken similar measures to limit tourists and their effect on daily life for residents. For example, Venice, Italy, in April became the first city in the world to charge day-trippers a fee just to enter on peak days.
Alaska's new agreement is designed to cap levels of visitors to roughly where they are now.
"The cruise industry is vital to our local economy, and we need to improve our infrastructure and grow our tour capacity to create a great guest experience and reduce impacts on residents," Juneau Visitor Industry director Alexandra Pierce said in a statement Tuesday. "With this agreement, we are committing to a cap to manage our busiest days and to meet annually to ensure that our visitor numbers remain sustainable."
CLIA, the cruise lines association, applauded the measure, calling the agreement "a well-balanced and thoughtful approach to keeping Juneau a great place to live and visit."
"Ongoing, direct dialogue with local communities is the best way to jointly self-regulate to preserve great resident and visitor experiences while providing a predictable market for the many local businesses that rely on the cruise industry," CLIA said in part in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
In Alaska, residents have complained that record numbers of visitors contribute to bad traffic and increase noise pollution when they visit glaciers by helicopter. On the other hand, many local businesses rely on the cruise industry and the steady flow of visitors it provides, the city of Juneau acknowledged in a statement.
Cruise seasons have also been extended from early April to late October, offering year-round residents little reprieve from tourists' presence.
Under a separate agreement, only five large ships are permitted a day during the current cruise season.
Pierce said other projects in the works will also likely diminish the impact tourists have on the city. They include installing a gondola at the city's ski area, updating its downtown sea walk and expanding capacity for visitors at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area.
City leaders are "trying to balance the needs of our residents, the needs of our economy, the needs of future opportunities for people to stay in our community," she said.
The agreement has its skeptics, though. Cruise industry critic Karla Hart says the new measure isn't sufficient to curb unsustainable levels of tourism. "It feels like we're just getting led along again, and expansion will continue and more time will pass," she said, according to the Associated Press.
Hart is behind a local ballot proposal that would ban ships of at least 250 passengers from stopping in Juneau on Saturdays or on July 4.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report
Megan CerulloMegan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
veryGood! (87)
Related
- Where is 'College GameDay' for Week 12? Location, what to know for ESPN show
- Kirk Cousins stats today: Falcons QB joins exclusive 500-yard passing game list
- What is elderberry good for? Dietitians weigh in.
- Video shows 'world's fanciest' McDonald's, complete with grand piano, gutted by Helene
- Jax Taylor Breaks Silence on Brittany Cartwright Dating His Friend Amid Their Divorce
- How Texas Diminished a Once-Rigorous Air Pollution Monitoring Team
- Video shows 'world's fanciest' McDonald's, complete with grand piano, gutted by Helene
- These Fun Facts About Travis Kelce Are All Game Winners
- AP Top 25: Oregon remains No. 1 as Big Ten grabs 4 of top 5 spots; Georgia, Miami out of top 10
- Regulators investigate possible braking error in over 360,000 Ford crossover SUVs
Ranking
- Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn’s SKIMS Holiday Pajamas Are Selling Out Fast—Here’s What’s Still Available
- Harris is heading to North Carolina to survey Helene’s aftermath one day after Trump visited
- Billy Shaw, Pro Football Hall of Famer and Buffalo Bills great, dead at 85
- Family plans to honor hurricane victim using logs from fallen tree that killed him
- Fantasy football Week 11: Trade value chart and rest of season rankings
- Devils' Jacob Markstrom makes spectacular save to beat Sabres in NHL season opener
- Eminem's Daughter Hailie Jade Shares Clever Way She Hid Her Pregnancy at Her Wedding
- Georgia businessman convicted of cheating two ex-NBA players of $8M
Recommendation
-
Darren Criss on why playing a robot in 'Maybe Happy Ending' makes him want to cry
-
United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket completes second successful launch
-
WWE Bad Blood 2024 live results: Winners, highlights and analysis of matches
-
San Francisco’s first Black female mayor is in a pricey battle for a second term
-
USMNT Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal Leg 1 vs. Jamaica: Live stream and TV, rosters
-
Search for missing 22-year-old Yellowstone employee scaled back to recovery mission
-
LeQuint Allen scores 4 TDs as Syracuse upsets No. 23 UNLV in overtime
-
Katie Meyer's parents, Stanford at odds over missing evidence in wrongful death lawsuit