Business

Our Priority: To create a positive business environment in Alaska for the cruise and tourism industries.

Industries in Alaska are under attack. Once thriving and important resource based industries in Alaska are now floundering because of too many restrictions and barriers to growth. There are many examples of ways that industries and governments have partnered to work together to manage valuable resources. Alaska has allowed most of its valuable resources to be locked up or underutilized by government restrictions. It is time for the Alaska Administration and Alaska Legislature to work with industries to maximize growth and development of its resources.

The effects of Ballot Measure 2 are now being felt in the Alaska tourism industry. The environmental restrictions and taxes are an overreaching burden to the Alaskan cruise industry. The cruise lines must answer to their shareholders. Their assets are mobile and can be moved to locations where they are more profitable, which is exactly what we are seeing now.  They are a mobile industry that can move to where they are profitable. As Alaskan businesses and communities we do not move we simply go out of business and reduce services.

Cruise ships are a very clean and efficient way to bring visitors to a destination. We should be giving cruise lines incentives to bring more of their guests to our towns in Alaska. How many industries have their customers delivered to their location with the potential of spending money? A positive cruise business environment will foster enterprise development and overall economic growth.

How we manage tourism today will affect the state for a long time to come. Tourism is a powerful industry in Alaska, bringing millions of dollars into the state economy and creating new opportunities for Alaska residents.

The Alaska cruise industry also builds up government coffers. Hotels, restaurants, and other businesses pay taxes on income, property, and utilities. Employees of cruise industry businesses also pay a variety of taxes as well. These revenues can add up to a large part of local municipality and the state's tax receipts.

In Alaska we need to be asking, “How can we continue to improve and benefit from tourism?” We need the Legislature and Administration to work with the cruise industry to create a positive setting for commerce in Alaska today that will continue to attract tourists well into the future.

The effects of Ballot Measure 2 are now being felt in the Alaska tourism industry. The environmental restrictions and taxes are an overreaching burden to the Alaskan cruise industry. The cruise lines must answer to their shareholders. They are a mobile industry that can move to where they are profitable. As Alaskan businesses and communities we do not move we simply go out of business and reduce services.