As of last week, Wrangell was hoping for 48 cruise ship stops from May 28 to Sept. 20, about half the number expected last year before the pandemic shut down all cruise ships from coming to Alaska.
The 48 port calls on the draft calendar "is still incomplete as we wait to hear from some of the smaller vessels that stop in Wrangell," according to the chamber of commerce website.
While the few larger vessels on the draft calendar will operate only if Canada opens its borders to cruise ship traffic or the U.S. government can maneuver a way around the problem, most of the stops are scheduled by smaller ships that will operate entirely in Alaska waters during the summer.
Those ships, mostly operated by Alaska Dream Cruises and UnCruise Adventures, generally can carry 40 to 80 passengers each.
"Most of the larger ships ... have canceled their 2021 season due to sailing restrictions imposed by Canada," the chamber website said. The largest ships, with capacity for 3,000 or 4,000 passengers each, do not call on Wrangell, but their loss is a serious blow to cruise-dependent towns like Skagway, Ketchikan and Juneau.
Wrangell had expected 17,000 cruise ship travelers last summer, before the season shut down without ever starting.
Statewide, Alaska anticipated 1.4 million visitors on cruise ships last year, up slightly from the year before.
In addition to waiting on a decision whether Canada will open its borders, the cruise industry also is waiting for operating rules from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before the ship owners - and port communities - can make definitive plans for what they need to do to protect passengers, crew and local residents.
UnCruise has announced that it will require all passengers and crew this year to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The decision is a reversal from the company's policy a month ago to keep passengers on board the vessels and away from visiting communities.
"It brings back a measure - far from all - but it brings back a measure of normalcy," CEO Dan Blanchard told Juneau public radio station KTOO this week.
"Our choice is, we have to be as safe as possible. And that means that if you're 18 or older, you need to be vaccinated," he said.
UnCruise tried one sailing in Southeast Alaska last year, but turned back to port when a passenger tested positive for the Coronavirus.
The company this year plans to bring 4,300 people to Alaska, the radio report said.
Looking longer term, the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau continues to work on redesigning its website, plan new social media promotions and launch a branding campaign.
Work on redesigning the website has been ongoing for some time, Wrangell Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore said at the group's March 18 meeting. The new website could potentially go live by the end of May, she said.
The redesign is being done by SPAWN Ideas, an advertising agency out of Anchorage. Rushmore said the cost is about $15,000.
The convention and visitor bureau decided March 18 that it would wait for the work on the website to finish before pushing a new branding campaign to promote visitors to town, targeting tourists for 2022.
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