Jet boat operators look to ride growing wave of tourism

Michael Hicks has something to shout about. It's Wrangell.

"I'm loud about Wrangell right now," said the senior director of marketing for American Queen Voyages. The company operates the 342-foot Ocean Victory cruise ship, which last month made its first of 14 scheduled visits to Wrangell this summer. One of the reasons the cruise line comes to town is jet boat tours.

"Wrangell and the jet boats fit so well into what we're doing," Hicks said. "Ocean Victory is only 186 guests. A lot of our guests have sailed on the larger ships, and they want to come back and see Alaska up close. The most accessible way is an expedition cruise like we offer."

Like the Ocean Victory, which is not even a year old, many expedition-style cruise lines are choosing Wrangell because of its access to the Stikine River, Anan Wildlife Observatory, whale watching tours and sport fishing. Jet boats are the vessels of choice when it comes to those types of activities, and the Stikine River Jet Boat Association is working to get cruise lines to use its services.

The association exists to hook up jet boat tour operators with the cruise ship companies, ensure a set of safety and quality standards among its members, and to promote a sense of camaraderie among those competing business members, said Caitlin Cardinell, administrator of the SRJBA.

Cardinell handles all the logistics, scheduling, communications and accounting between association members and cruise lines.

"Whenever a cruise ship is in port, all (jet boats) need to do is show up when I tell them," she said. "When I get paid, I give them (boat owners) a check. It's really a win-win for everybody."

There are five member businesses in the association, which is open to anyone, provided they are willing to go through the vetting process, Cardinell said.

"Operating on the Stikine River takes a set of skills not every boat captain can do, which is where the safety part comes in," she said. "Those tour operators, when they first started the association (in 1994), they were running tours all the way up into Telegraph Creek (British Columbia). There used to be more vibrant tourism, but never for cruise ships."

She further explained the history. "It was a bunch of riverboat captains that acknowledged this takes a certain skill set to operate in this moving water environment. The Stikine River delta is everchanging. Anyone can go get their U.S. Coast Guard captain's license, but it can take years to truly learn how to operate on the Stikine."

Brenda Schwartz-Yeager, co-owner of Alaska Charters and Adventures, has been running jet boat tours for 33 years, joining the association at its inception. As part of the SRJBA's rotation cycle, Schwartz-Yeager said she runs tours for the cruise lines about two days a week. The other five days are filled with private charters from independent travelers. The expedition-style cruises are a perfect fit for Wrangell, she said.

"They're looking for places a little more authentic and different, and for experiences ... that are perhaps a little more genuine and up close and unique than some of the basic large-group excursions you might find in other places," Schwartz-Yeager said. "Wrangell is well-positioned for those types of visitors because we have some of the best things to do around here in a very unspoiled way."

Cruise ships are scheduled to make about 50 stops in Wrangell this year, not including three lines that Cardinell said either conduct their own tours or have direct contracts with local tour companies. Next year, she said 75 cruise ship stops are scheduled.

"This year is shaping up to be potentially the largest year we've had on record for revenue," she said last week. "I'm projecting a little over $1 million in revenue. This is a ballpark range based off what we've brought in so far (from 15 ships) and how many ships and tours we have left to go."

It's not just jet boat owners who benefit from cruise passengers. Restaurants, gift shops and even the grocery stores get a share of the spending.

Borough Manager Jeff Good said tourism is a major part of the economy in Wrangell, with a focus on adventure and ecotourism. "We've been trying to work with the Forest Service ... looking at where the cabins are located," he said. "What's available? Where are things if someone kayaks around the island? It's looking at everything, all possibilities for economic viability."

It's the "genuine" Alaska that's bringing in tourists who are trying to get away from the megaship experience.

"You don't have your chains and jewelry stores. It's very authentic," said Hicks, of American Queen Voyages. "The jet boats are so well organized. Everything is done first class the way Caitlin has put everything together. For a cruise line, it's managed so consistently well, our guests can walk off the Ocean Victory and walk onto a jet boat there in port."

Though there is room for growth, both Schwartz-Yeager and Cardinell agreed it has to be managed properly to remain a benefit and not a detriment to the town and to another important tourist category: Independent travelers.

"Our independent travelers are really a powerful driver in our economy," Schwartz-Yeager said. "I can see a danger where some communities kind of become 'owned,' so to speak, by their cruise customers. We have a really robust independent traveler market here. The reason they come here is because they're trying to get away from that mass industrial tourism."

Schwartz-Yeager said the association has found that independent travelers tend to sink more money into the local economy since they're staying in town more than just a day in most instances.

"People have this fear of turning into Ketchikan, turning into Juneau," Cardinell said. Before the pandemic, the two communities, and Skagway, each saw a million or more cruise ship passengers during the summer.

"I don't want that. Our operators don't have the infrastructure, the city doesn't have the infrastructure to handle that. We're getting exactly what we want, and I think we can handle more of it with cruise ships. As far as independent travel, there is a lot of room for growth that I think the city can continue to do as well."

Part of that growth, Cardinell said, is dependent on businesses in town adapting to increased numbers of tourists. "For example, Nic's Place ... started serving halibut pizza on cruise ship days. That has been a huge revenue maker for him."

Schwartz-Yeager pointed out that another challenge is cruise lines that operate tours themselves, keeping money in-house. "Are the (cruise lines) going to be doing tours that are provided by local tour providers or are they going to try to do more of it themselves to try to save money? We need to be aware of that."