With the loss of several cruise ship stops this summer, Wrangell may not exceed last year’s cruise visitor count as had been originally projected.
Wrangell recently lost 14 stops from the cruise line American Queen Voyages, which filed for bankruptcy last month, canceling its 186-passenger Ocean Victory to Southeast Alaska. This translates to a loss of $33,000 in port fees and as many as 2,600 summer visitors for Wrangell.
The town also lost the stops of three mid-size cruise ships which are now going to Klawock, taking about 2,200 berths off the Wrangell calendar.
Cruise traffic is an important part of the community’s summer economy. According to the Wrangell Visitor Economy 2024 report prepared for the borough by Juneau-based Rain Coast Data, Wrangell saw just under 23,000 cruise visitors in 2023, a 42% increase from 2022. Cruise passengers spent about $3.5 million in town in 2023, an average of $152 per passenger.
Independent travelers who arrive by air spend $568 per person, according to the report.
The report also noted that last year’s cruise numbers exceeded the pre-COVID travel numbers of 2019, after several years of rebuilding the travel trade.
With the loss of visitors from the two ships switching to Klawock, and the loss of American Queen Voyages’ business, this summer’s traffic count is now likely to be comparable to last year.
The original projection from Rain Coast Data was the potential for 31,427 cruise ship passengers this summer, if 100% of the berths are filled, but with the cancellations, the projection has decreased to 25,231.
The record for cruise ship traffic to Wrangell was set in 2005, at just over 50,000 passengers, in a year with several large ships calling on the community.
A couple of the bigger ships that cruise Southeast Alaska have added Wrangell to their itineraries this summer: The 2,081-berth Queen Elizabeth is scheduled for two stops, and the 2,160-berth Nieuw Amsterdam is on the schedule for one stop, according to a Feb. 26 schedule posted by the Wrangell Convention and Visitor Bureau.
Despite the cancellations, Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director, said at the March 5 economic development board meeting that Wrangell isn’t losing stops because of a lack of amenities. Rather, she noted, it’s the length of the cruises that determine whether ships stop in town.
A stop in Wrangell requires the ships to veer east from the heavily traveled route between Ketchikan, Sitka and Juneau, making it hard on vessels to cover the popular destinations within their seven-day cruises.
Thomas reported that borough officials have talked with Cruise Lines Agencies of Alaska, asking them to keep Wrangell in mind if ships need to reroute this summer.
Cruise ships remain the overwhelming primary vehicle for tourists visiting Wrangell, as state ferry traffic continues its decline of the past decade.
Ferry passenger numbers dropped an additional 19% in 2023 from 2022, down to 1,233 passengers arriving in town over the entire year. A decade earlier, almost 7,200 people arrived in Wrangell by ferry.
The Rain Coast Data report projects that ferry travelers will account for 0.6% of all tourists in 2024. Visitors arriving via cruise ships are expected to make up 90% of visitors, with air travelers and yachters making up the rest.
In 2023, 14,060 air passengers visited Wrangell, a 6% increase over 2022. Of those, about 2,700 were summer recreation visitors. The increase in overall air travel numbers is partially credited to Trident Seafoods restarting local operations, according to the report.
Non-traditional housing options for visitors like short-term Airbnb and Vrbo rentals have grown in popularity in Wrangell. Data from AirDNA, a company that tracks Vrbo and Airbnb data, shows that short-term rentals have increased from 20 active listings in 2021 to 26 in 2023. In 2023, prices averaged at $192 per night, increasing to $347 per night on average in July.
Anan Wildlife Observatory, an important visitor attraction in Wrangell, saw a record number of visitors in 2023.
The U.S. Forest Service limits the number of visitors to 60 commercially guided and 12 independent visitors a day in the peak season. Anan saw 2,905 visitors in 2023, 2,357 of which were commercially guided and 548 were independent. According to the report, the increase in visitors is likely thanks to a new permit system and good weather.
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