Dunleavy announces all travelers to Alaska can get vaccinated starting in June

From a podium at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced more details on his new tourism initiative to revitalize the industry that brought $4.5 billion in revenue into the state prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of an approach to bringing tourists back to Alaska, Dunleavy announced that any traveler entering the state of Alaska on or after June 1 would be able to receive a vaccination.

“We believe there’s a real opportunity to get folks to come to Alaska,” said Dunleavy. “We want to make sure that they dont’ forget about Alaska.

Dunleavy said that as part of his plan to distribute the roughly $1 billion in ARP funds to Alaskans, $150 million would be packaged for those in the tourism industry and sent to the legislature to pass.

“Our tribes have done an amazing job in getting folks vaccinated. I mean I just can’t say enough our native health consortiums have done an amazing job of getting people vaccinated,” said Dunleavy.

Executive Director for the Alaska Native Heritage Center Emily Edenshaw spoke after Dunleavy about the importance of sharing the Alaskan culture with visitors as a means of celebrating that culture and also providing economic stimulus. Edenshaw said that 51 percent of visitors experience cultural tourism.

“This year will likely be another tough year for tourism we feel there is breathing room now to reimagine who and what the tourism industry looks like throughout Alaska,” said Edenshaw.

Dunleavy reinvigorated his plight with the CDC and Federal government regulations that will not permit cruise ships from traveling to Southeast Alaska, and touted the work that the state did with fishing and mining industries in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

“Alaska knows how to do things in Alaska better than those that are not in Alaska,” said Dunleavy. “We continue to work with the CEC but I guess I’m losing hope. We only have a couple days left before the cruise lines nave to make a decision whether they deploy their resources other places.”

Of the roughly $4.5 billion that tourism brought to Alaska prior to the cancelation of the 2020 cruise season upon the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, $3 billion of that is credited to the cruise industry.

“We need a little help from the CDC and from the Federal government, so all we’re asking them is to let us work with our cruise ship industry, just like we did the other industries, to put together a way to deal with this and in the event, and this is not a threat it’s just a course of business, in the event that doesn’t occur we’re fully prepared to file suit to talk about damages to our state, to our businesses, to our municipalities, and I know Florida has embarked upon this and we’ll be in conversations and quite frankly we may sign up with them and file our own suit if necessary. We’re not doing this as a threat we want to work with the Federal government but if that’s the only tool that’s going to be left in our toolbox we’re prepared to pursue that,” said Dunleavy.

As part of Dunleavy’s initiative, Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer will travel the state to meet with those most directly impacted by the lack of tourism dollars last year. Meyer will begin his listening tour in the southeast and has set up an email at ltgov.listens.ak.gov to hear from Alaskans.