Cruise ships sail into Interior?

I remember a television advertisement Princess Cruises used to air of a cruise ship sailing through the Mat-Su Valley toward south Denali. Tundra, wildlife and Mount McKinley were views passengers on deck focused their binoculars.

It looked so real. I am certain reservation agents received calls from people wanting to cruise to Denali National Park. But, in reality, you could say visitors do cruise through the Mat-Su and to Denali. It is called a cruisetour package. Visitors purchase a cruise and an Alaska land package at the same time.

Alaskans typically think of a cruise passenger as only visiting ports in Southeast and flying in and out of Anchorage. But the cruise industry has a great economic impact in the Mat-Su Valley and the Interior.

Our two largest hotels, the Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge and the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge, were built to overnight the cruisetour passenger and make up nearly one-third of the bed taxes collected in the borough.

Vendors provide goods and services and local communities benefit from employment opportunities.

Day tours such as flightseeing, rafting, fishing, horseback riding, biking and fishing are all supplied by local guides and operators.

All of this new business stimulates additional activity which economists call the ripple or multiplier effect. That means if tourism grows so does the rest of our economy, like construction, fuel, laundry services, banking, professional services (accountants and lawyers), telecommunications and retail.

The cruise industry benefits extend far beyond Southeast Alaska port communities. Fairbanks, for example, is hundreds of miles from any ocean, but cruise passengers account for more than 40 percent of its visitor market.

These passengers pump more than $12 million into Fairbanks' economy and generate $1.5 million in local tax revenue. Likewise, studies show that cruising supports more than 2,000 Anchorage-area jobs and generates a direct economic impact of more than $105 million.

One big reason for all of this is that cruising is popular. Alaska represents 9 percent of the world cruise market.

Cruise ships visiting Alaska this summer have capacity or near-capacity counts because of aggressive marketing and some of the lowest cruise pricing in the world -- which in turn helps other Alaska tourism-based businesses.

"More and better onshore activities make Alaska cruises more attractive so that passengers are more likely to book trips," said John Hansen, president of the Northwest Cruise Ship Association. "Increased cruise bookings mean more customers for Alaska's onshore businesses."

Some cruise passengers extend their vacation after a cruise and plan their own itinerary instead of purchasing a packaged tour. For many bed and breakfast operators in the Valley, these visitors are increasing.

"We get a lot of people who have just gotten off a cruise ship," explained Donna Massey, owner and operator of Iditarod Bed and Breakfast in Palmer.

"They rent a car and travel around independently. They also enjoy meeting local Alaskans and traveling at their own pace," Massey said.

So, you may not actually see a cruise ship in the Denali horizon, but the Mat-Su Valley and Alaska's interior is a cruise ship port of call.