By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Already suffering from the loss of the 2020 cruise ship season, Sitka businesses and government officials alike are now dealing with the prospect of a second shutdown this year.
“The town is going to have to figure out a way to make up some revenue from lack of sales tax,” Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said Saturday. “We are definitely going to be in a down budget year now because of this. That is guaranteed.”
Last week the Canadian government announced it would not allow cruise ships with more than 100 passengers to operate in its waters. Under the century-old U.S. Jones Act foreign flagged ships traveling to Alaska from another American port must make at least one port call in a foreign port, which in the Alaska trade means Canada.
Eisenbeisz, who has an apparel and sporting goods business on Lincoln Street, said the support of local businesses by local residents, as well as by out-of-town independent travelers and charter customers, helped keep Sitka’s economy afloat this past year.
“We hope that independent travelers will be strong, but I feel that the largest limiting factor this year in terms of independent travelers is going to be availability of lodging… From a business perspective, it’s simply adapting to the customers that you are going to have, leaning hard on local. Because last year local support was instrumental in us staying alive and this year it is going to be just as important,” he said.
The mayor noted that while more independent travel could increase bed tax receipts, that won’t make up for the loss of sales tax revenue.
From the vantage point of a major Sitka business enterprise, Allen Marine spokesperson Zak Kirkpatrick said the cruise ban will have a large impact throughout Southeast.
“One can’t overstate how critical the visitor industry is to the Alaskan economy, not just to cruise and tour operators like us but to our friends and neighbors,” Kirkpatrick said.
Allen Marine has spent decades operating day excursions for cruise ship passengers, and in recent years has added overnight longer tours in regional waters with a subsidiary business, Alaska Dream Cruises.
Kirkpatrick said the loss of a second summer season could have tremendous ripple effects within local communities.
“People just have to realize, (this impacts) not just tourism, tour operators, and people directly related to the cruise industry… but local retailers, restaurants, print shops and others who will have gone from October of 2019 to May of 2021, 19 months with no revenue. If a large-ship season did not happen in 2021 that would force business to go 31 months and it was already devastating to go 19 months. And for business to go 31 months (without major income) would be cataclysmic,” he said.
Due to the nature of the company, Kirkpatrick said, Allen Marine’s itineraries can be flexible.
“Because we are an Alaska Native-owned company and we are locals, we have been in contact with the municipalities and ports of call that we visit and it’s been a great open line to communities – they understand our itineraries are flexible. They’re often in wilderness spaces,” he said.
He said the increasing numbers of people who are vaccinated is encouraging, but added that the safety of customers remains a high priority in his business.
He said he is also hopeful about a federal waiver to the Jones Act, to allow cruise ships to visit Alaska without making the foreign stop first.
“We’re just very hopeful that with this news being announced here in early February, that gives time for the (Congressional) delegation to look at it and put a plan in place to obtain such waivers,” he said.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, along with Rep. Don Young, issued a statement Thursday critical of the Canadian decision to cut off cruise travel to Alaska without any advance notice to Alaska.
“We are exploring all potential avenues, including changing existing laws, to ensure the cruise industry in Alaska resumes operations as soon as it is safe,” the delegation said in a joint statement.
“Canada’s announcement to ban all cruise sailings carrying 100 people or more traveling through Canadian waters, without so much as a courtesy conversation with the Alaska delegation, is not only unexpected— it is unacceptable— and was certainly not a decision made with any consideration for Alaskans or our economy. We expect more from our Canadian allies,” the delegation stated.
Visit Sitka Director Laurie Booyse was encouraged that the delegation is looking for a way to open up cruise tourism this summer.
“This is exactly what I expected and hoped for from our congressional delegation,” Booyse said. “I think all three of them understand the importance of tourism to our state’s economy and how we need to get back to work in tourism. So this is the right thing to do and we need to keep moving forward finding ways to continue keeping our business doors open,” Booyse said over the phone.
She also highlighted the fact that Alaska Dream Cruises and UnCruise operate small boats within Alaskan waters and will continue operations.
Independent travelers, Booyse added, may carry the Sitkan economy through another summer.
“I’m a glass half full type of person…. Visit Sitka has been working all throughout this COVID time to bring the message of Sitka out more independent travelers… Our marketing is basically focused on bringing in the independent traveler,” she said.
This marketing may bring in a number of visitors who would otherwise have taken a ride on a large cruise ship, she said.
Kirkpatrick acknowledged that the future remains uncertain, but he believes there is significant desire among the public to travel to Alaska.
“There seems to be a pent-up demand for people to travel and travel to Alaska. Certainly no one has a crystal ball for 2021, especially now with the news from Canada… but we know there is demand,” Kirkpatrick said.
Looking at the bright side, Mayor Eisenbeisz noted that said Sitka is in better shape than Southeast communities more dependent on tourism.
“As bad as we are, we have to remember our friends in Skagway; they’re going to be much worse off than we are and they’re going to have a much bigger struggle. Our economy is at least diversified and at the end of the day we’ll be OK,” he said.
“Skagway, Haines, Hoonah, some of the towns that really rely on cruise ship passengers are going to be hurting a lot more than we are,” he said. “So while it will be bad, our neighbors are going to need our help and support too, so maybe we should travel intrastate and go check out Skagway while it’s empty.”
