Summer visitor season is soft, but fundamentals still strong

The summer visitor season is a little soft this year in Mat-Su, a pattern also seem statewide. Visitor spending appears down about 3 to 5 percent, said Casey Ressler, CEO of the Mat-Su Visitors and Convention Bureau.

That’s about the same as in Fairbanks and other Alaska destinations. For years the state’s visitor industry has seen steady increases except during the pandemic, and last year was a record-breaker.

However, the fundamentals for the state’s tourist industry are still sound. Alaska is still a desirable place to visit and there’s room for growth, particularly in the fall-winter-spring season.

The data for Mat-Su spending is based on credit card transactions from cards with addresses outside Mat-Su, which includes not only out-of-state visitors but also those from Anchorage driving to Mat-Su for recreation or sightseeing. These are the numbers that are down.

What has changed things this summer are uncertainties for the economy among Lower 48 residents planning trips to Alaska who are worried about inflation and living costs created by President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on imported goods.

International visitors, traditionally a strength for Alaska, are down significantly because of concern about detainments and delays at arrival airports by the U.S. customs and immigration, or ICE.

But there is also some conflicting data. Though visitor spending as shown in credit card data is down, Mat-Su hotel and motel “bed tax” collections for both the first and second quarters of 2025 are up compared with the same quarters of 2024, according to information from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Spring hotel/motel “bed tax” collections were $645,500 in second quarter of 2025 compared with $596,000 in second quarter 2024, for example.

Part of the difference may occur because the credit card data reflects purchases like meals, gifts and recreation as well as lodging, while the bed tax data is only lodging. Room prices between 2024 and 2025 have increased, so tax collections likely rose by more than actual overnight stays.

Cruise ship visitors appear on par with 2024 but this is expected because cruise passengers book their trips far in advance while independent travelers typically make decisions closer to the time they travel. More recent worries on the economy could influence decisions for these visitors.

The decline among independent travelers has impact, however, because those visitors trend to spend more locally than do cruise tourists. But although cruise visitors tend to stick with plans made far in advance they may also spend less on shore excursions and extras if there are concerns for the economy.

In the Interior, hotel/motel occupancy rates were 63% from January through June, down from 68% for the first half of 2024. Within the six months January was up from 2024 while June showed only a slight decrease in Fairbanks, or 80% vs. 83%. Room rates increased 2% for the six-month period but rose 5% in June over the year before.

Short-term rental occupancy rates in the Fairbanks area dropped from 37% to 33% in the period and listings increased 20%, indicating more supply amid softening demand. Fairbanks North Star Borough bed tax revenues were $3.04 million for January through May, down from $3.42 million for the four-month period of 2024. May is the latest month reported on Fairbanks borough bed tax collections.

The Interior Alaska data is mostly from Explore Fairbanks, the regional visitor industry trade association. January and February, traditionally good winter tourism months for the Interior, saw good growth over 2024 but things went soft in the months following. That was when concerns over the economy and impacts of tariffs, and the ICE policies, began to be felt.

There is some encouraging data for the Interior, however. Passenger arrivals at Fairbanks’ airport were up 7% in June, while the Alaska Railroad reported a healthy increase of 18% in June over the same month of 2024. Statewide, advance bookings by independent travelers slowed in early spring and last-minute bookings have not picked up enough to cover the difference, the Alaska Travel Industry Association reported. But this appears to vary by region. In Fairbanks, there appear to be more last-minute bookings, Explore Fairbanks said.

The drop in tourism is seen in data from Southcentral and Interior Alaska. Anchorage air passengers were down 7% from January through June, and June employment in leisure and hospitality statewide was 16,600, down from 17,300 in June 2024.