Tourism dips statewide but Mat-Su shows resilience, data shows

Visitor numbers are down in 2025 for the first time in years, and the Mat-Su is no exception. Jillian Simpson, CEO of the Alaska Travel Industry Association, or ATIA, said statewide numbers were down for the first time in years.

But the decline in Mat-Su was less than in other parts of the state mainly because of regional tourism, with visitors from Anchorage coming to Mat-Su for recreation.

Tour industry leaders are still assessing results of the season, and while cruise ship visitors appear stable with last year airline passengers are down, indicating a drop in independent travel, Simpson said.

For Mat-Su, visitor spending is down about 1% for the year to date, said Casey Ressler, CEO of the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Visitors accounted for 19 percent of all spending in the Mat-Su Borough, down from 20 percent at this point last year,” Ressler said.

Other data indicating resilience in the Mat-Su visitor industry. “An interesting thing is that short-term rental bookings (typically by visitors) are actually up 12 percent through the end of September,” Ressler said.

“I think this indicates that people are still traveling, but their concerns about the economy are making them spend less. We’ve seen similar data and stories from other destinations in Alaska as well,” he said.

Simpson, of ATIA, presented the statewide data at the association’s annual convention held recently in Anchorage. Passengers on cruise ships voyaging to Alaska appear level to last year at about 1.7 million visitors, she said.

The cruise visitor data is encouraging because travelers coming north on the ships provide a foundation for the state’s visitor industry overall. A flat season for cruise passenger indicates stability in an important sector of the visitor industry.

However, airline passengers statewide were down 3.4% for the season, indicating a likely decline in independent travelers. This is important because independent travelers tend to spend more in Alaska than cruise passengers because they make their own arrangements for hotels, car rentals and in-state tours, many of these owned and operated by Alaskans.

Cruise passengers, in contrast, stay mostly on the ships except for shore excursions while the vessels visit coastal communities. Many cruise passengers do go on to travel in-state after arriving on ship but many of these excursions are booked through affiliates of the cruise companies although side-trips and often done with locally-owned firms.

The downturn this year among independent travelers is generally attributed to economic uncertainties over President Trump’s policies on the economy, worries over increasing inflation and a possible recession.

Those things dampen consumer spending and affect decisions on vacations. This is particularly felt among independent travelers who tend to make decisions near the time they travel and are thus more influenced by short-term worries for the economy.

Another indicator of independent travel came in ATIA’s data for winter 2025 visitors, which were down 5.5% from winter 2024, ATIA’s Simpson said. The winter 2025 number came mostly in the first and second quarter of the year and at the time that there was rising concern over President Trump’s policies on the economy. Prior to this year winter tourism was showing strong growth, ATIA said.

Cruise visitors make book reservations on ships well in advance and, generally, are less influenced by short-term economic trends, at least in passenger numbers. However, cruise passengers, are not immune from worries on the economy. While their cruises may have been booked and paid for well in advance cruise passengers likely tighten their spending while in Alaska. Data on this for 2025 is not yet available.

Overall, the Alaska “brand” for visitors shows continued strength. Even in uncertain times domestic vacation travel remains strong and Alaska remains attractive for Americans because of its scenery, wildlife and diverse cultural history.

Meanwhile, for Mat-Su Ressler said things are coming along nicely for the new visitor center now under construction on the Glenn Highway, which is expected to boost regional tourism.

“They (contractors) finished the landscaping and are scheduled to have major completion of the building done by the end of December. Once that is complete, work begins on the displays inside the facility,” he said.

“We’re on track to be open to the public around the end of May, which is ideal to be open for the beginning of the summer season.”