Alaska tourism study

May 05, 2013

The Alaska Dept. of Commerce has published a definitive study on the economic impact of the tourism industry of 2011-12.

A few highlights:

• Alaska’s visitor industry accounted for an estimated 37,800 full and part time jobs during the 2011-12 study period, including all direct, indirect, and induced impacts.
• The visitor industry generated $3.72 billion in spending during the 2011-12 study period.
• An estimated 1,823,600 out-of-state visitors traveled to Alaska between May 2011 and April 2012. Roughly half (48percent) were cruise ship passengers.
• The number of cruise passengers to Alaska dropped by 14 percent between the two periods, while air visitors increased by roughly the same amount. Cruise passengers spend much less in Alaska on a per-person basis: $632, compared to $1,455 among summer air visitors in summer 2011.
• In terms of relative contribution to the regional economy, visitor industry employment is most important in Southeast Alaska. Visitor industry-related employment of approximately 10,200 represented 21 percent of the region’s 49,000 full and part-time jobs.

Commentary

Although 2 years old the study highlights the importance of cruise ship and airline tourism traffic on the Alaskan economy.

Sources

• a)Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, Division of Economic Development "Alaska’s Visitor Industry 2011-12" Feb-2013, see http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/ded/dev/toubus/pub/Visitor_Industry_Impacts_2_13.pdf