Sep 04, 2024
Cruise tourism to Sitka, Alaska, began in 1882 and has been "an important part of the economy ever since," said resident Tonia Puletau-Lang, who has been involved in local tourism for nine years.
But, she added, "it's also been a contentious and volatile" economic sector.
Puletau-Lang's comments are expressed in the film "Cruise Boom," debuting on PBS on Sept. 14.
The movie documents months of preparation for the 2022 cruise season. That year, the first full season after the pandemic shutdown, the industry appears to be making up for lost time, with a predicted 480,000 passengers disembarking in Sitka, significantly over the 2019 count. (Cruise arrivals in 2022 turned out to be closer to 383,000, according to city officials).
The film includes clips from 25 public meetings as the town puts together a short-term plan to brace for an unprecedented number of arrivals.
For some residents, the topic is especially "contentious and volatile." Referenda to fund a public cruise port had repeatedly failed. However, an unprofitable Sitka boatyard that had been providing services to local fishing boats pivoted to built a private big-ship cruise port, one large enough for Oasis-class ships to dock, with financial support from Royal Caribbean Group.
The film, made by 30-year Sitka resident Ellen Frankenstein, strives for balance. She interviews opponents to increased arrivals as well as those for whom the "cruise boom" is an economic boom.
Martha Honey, co-founder of the Center for Responsible Travel and industry critic, spells out in a video interview what she sees as the industry's less-than-community-spirited practices elsewhere.
But the film also records a spokesperson for a local raptor recovery center who expresses gratitude for Royal's financial support.
Interest in cruising Alaska has exploded post-pandemic. This year, 600,000 passengers are expected to disembark in Sitka. Local critics in the film pointed to Skagway as an example of how a town's character can be diluted if cruising gets too large; that town's mayor, in turn, points to Juneau as the cautionary tale.
(To address citizen discontent, Juneau and CLIA signed a nonbinding agreement in the spring of 2023 to set a limit of five big cruise ships a day.)
"Tourism can undermine the fabric of your community if you're not careful," Skagway mayor Andrew Cremata said in the film. "The only way [to avoid it] is by having a conversation."
The need for dialogue is the leitmotif of the film, one that Renee Limoge Reeve, vice president of government and community relations for CLIA in Alaska, seems to be in tune with.
"We'd be naive to think we don't have an impact," she says in the film. "So how do we help manage the impact, to encourage people to be involved and have their voices heard and figure out how we can work together to minimize the impacts?"
Mary Goddard of the regenerative tourism group Sustainable Southeast Partnership might be expected to voice opinions that simply counter CLIA's positions, but her quote in the film isn't too different from Reeve's: "We have to be active and engaged stakeholders," she says. "That means being involved in policymaking, that means talking to the cruise ship lines, it means asking the hard questions, it really means being innovative and being problem-solvers."
Even the manager of the private cruise ship port acknowledges the complexity of the situation. "There are negatives that had to be addressed and figured out," he said. "But also positives. You'll see sales tax revenues increase to the millions. And we get our community from October to April, without any cruise ships."
The film's 360-degree approach includes guides, shopkeepers, environmentalists and passengers. Fishermen grumble about the loss of the boatyard, asserting that decisions need to be made "so one industry doesn't trample on another."
But a third-generation owner of a store that features products with a local flavor was delighted with cruise passengers. "They come in the morning and leave in the evening; who could ask for anything better?"
The filmmaker wrote to me that she "wanted to share a little humanity and whimsy from people getting off the ships." Interviews with passengers were generally positive, with one family saying they'll return to stay longer, but another saying they were interested in Native art, though they would like to see it presented in a less touristy fashion.
"You can't stop people from coming," one resident comments in the film. "Get in front of tourism, get in front of it," another says. "Tourism doesn't just have to happen to you. You can help shape it."
Another, with poignancy: "How does any community figure out what's best for all of us?"
How, indeed; communities are not monolithic in opinion. But Sitka took the time -- 25 public meetings! -- to make sure that all voices were heard.
By the end of the 2023 season, 585,000 passengers had disembarked in Sitka, city officials said; that's more than a 52% year-over-year increase.
Tourism evolves. It's dynamic, and it's important to keep in mind that what a community decides this year may change with circumstances the next. It should be, rightfully, a conversation that never ends.
Link to article on the Travel Weekly site