Residents of major Alaskan cruise ports are trying to combat the rising number of cruise guests visiting the cities.
The people who live in Juneau and Sitka have been trying to raise sufficient support to push through ballots that would change the laws on cruise ship visits.
Juneau’s residents have been successful in their first stage, having received the necessary number of signatures, though Sitka’s residents have hit a roadblock and had their initial attempt rejected by the municipal clerk.
Guest numbers in Alaska are skyrocketing as more, larger cruise ships visit the region.
Residents are looking to put limits on the visitor numbers, including keeping Saturdays free of cruise guests, ensuring national holidays like 4th July also have no visitors, and ultimately reducing numbers by as much as half.
While cruise passengers do bring a lot of revenue into port towns, they also cause a lot of additional foot traffic, and everyday residents (especially in smaller towns where populations are low) often feel like there are just too many people.
There are also concerns that the sheer numbers of visitors will be having a detrimental effect on local wildlife and scenery, as excursions take big groups on tours.
It’s not just Alaska where the cruise industry is seeing some pushback from locals. Amsterdam has changed laws recently, and Venice has been looking to limit guest numbers.
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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.
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