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Alaska‘s capital will set new limits on how many cruise passengers can visit each day after a rush of post-pandemic tourism.
Last year, Juneau’s roughly 32,000 residents withstood hordes of hikers, schools of whale watchers and swarms of helicopters overhead, as an estimated 1.6 million visitors in total (or up to 21,000 a day at peak periods) disembarked at the springs.
Now the city government has signed a voluntary agreement with the cruise industry that limits the number of vessels allowed to dock each day, starting in 2026.
The agreement limits daily docking to ships with a cumulative total of 16,000 beds Sunday through Friday and 12,000 beds on Saturdays, although the number of actual visitors will sometimes be higher because cruise ships often exceed their listed capacity.
“The city’s position is that we do not have room for cruise growth with our current infrastructure, and we have negotiated daily passenger limits to reduce our busiest days,” the city’s tourism manager told The Guardian. Alexandra Pierce.
“Cruise tourism is important to our local and regional economies, and we must be good neighbors while finding the balance between concerned residents and local livelihoods that depend on the visitor industry.”
A cruise ship eclipsed by nature as it rests along the Juneau docks in June 2017 (KeynoteUSA Photo/Becky Bohrer)
But some locals believe the new limits are insufficient and are pushing for passage of a ballot measure that would reduce the limit to 250 beds on Saturdays and the Fourth of July, effectively banning most passenger boats on those days.
“All we’re looking for is one day a week, plus the 4th of July, when locals can go downtown, visit the glacier, hike our trails and go fishing without competing with thousands and thousands of cruise ship passengers,” said supporter Steve Krall. last week, according to The Juneau Empire.
“This is a modest and reasonable request: a simple day of rest for everyone.”
Other residents have opposed the ballot measure, arguing that cruises generate enormous amounts of consumer spending and tax revenue that the city and its people cannot afford to pass up.
Juneau, a former gold mining town sheltered from the Pacific Ocean by the rocky labyrinth of the Alexander Archipelago, bills itself as the world’s most popular whale-watching destination and has a tourist season that lasts about 22 weeks.
Between 2022 and 2023, the number of cruise passengers visiting Juneau increased by 44 percent, according to The Alaska Beacon, which Pierce said was “shocking” and at times “suffocating” for many residents.
The new agreement is reportedly intended to keep tourist numbers roughly stable, giving the city more time to expand its infrastructure while incorporating enough of a delay for cruise lines to adapt their future schedules.
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