Longshoremen secure the Royal Caribbean ship Serenade of the Seas to Ketchikan’s cruise ship docks on July 9, 2021.
Representatives of Alaska’s cruise industry are scheduled to discuss the next decade of cruise ship tourism with Ketchikan’s City Council on Thursday. Leaders of the Alaska chapter of Cruise Lines International Association will present their projections and discuss the short- and long-term needs for Ketchikan’s downtown cruise ship docks.
It’s the latest development in a years-long dispute over how Ketchikan can spend the money cruise lines pay to dock downtown. In 2018, a federal judge in Juneau ruled that proceeds from head taxes — the per-passenger fees that Juneau and Ketchikan charge cruise companies to tie up in town —an effort to turn over day-to-day port operations to a private company.
CLIA Alaska’s meeting with the council could be a step towards resolving the dispute over head tax revenue. Last month, CLIA Alaska and city officials in Juneauthat would, among other things, allow Juneau to spend $10 million in port fees on expanding a city-owned convention center. CLIA and city officials heralded the deal as a shift towards a more collaborative relationship between Juneau and the cruise industry.
The council is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m Thursday at Ketchikan’s City Hall. The meeting is broadcast on local cable channels and the