Alaska recorded 2,702,900 out-of-state visitors during summer 2024, measured across air, cruise, highway and ferry transportation markets. That total was 22.1% above summer 2019, while cruise travel remained the largest individual market. The figures below separate visitor arrivals from airport enplanements and national park recreational visits, which measure different parts of Alaska travel.
Contents
- Alaska visitor arrivals by transportation market
- Air arrivals and airport activity
- Cruise arrivals and itinerary mix
- Highway and ferry arrivals
- Airport gateway passenger counts
- National park arrival destinations
Alaska visitor arrivals by transportation market
The Commercial Passenger Vessel Tax: FY 2016-2025 report records the following out-of-state visitor totals for the stated summer periods, covering April through December where specified. These are statewide transportation-market counts, not a count of unique people across every calendar month.
| Period | Out-of-state visitors |
|---|---|
| Summer 2016 | 1,857,500 |
| Summer 2017 | 1,926,300 |
| Summer 2018 | 2,026,300 |
| Summer 2019 | 2,213,000 |
| Summer 2020 | 427,000 |
| Summer 2023 | 2,648,600 |
| Summer 2024 | 2,702,900 |
The pre-pandemic series rose from 1,857,500 visitors in summer 2016 to 2,213,000 in summer 2019. The summer 2020 count was 427,000. The same report records 2,648,600 visitors in summer 2023 and 2,702,900 in summer 2024. The 2024 total was 2.1% higher than summer 2023 according to Alaska Visitor Volume, Summer 2024, by Transportation Market.
The 2024 total is useful as a broad demand indicator, but transportation markets should be read separately. A visitor arriving by cruise is included in the statewide market total, while an airport enplanement is an airport activity measure and may include travelers with a different trip purpose or itinerary. The source labels and periods therefore matter when comparing the numbers.
Air arrivals and airport activity
Air visitors numbered 747,100 in summer 2016, 750,500 in summer 2017, 760,100 in summer 2018 and 790,900 in summer 2019. The summer 2020 count was 420,000. Air visitors then reached 852,500 in summer 2023 and 839,600 in summer 2024. These figures come from the Commercial Passenger Vessel Tax: FY 2016-2025 report and refer to Alaska’s summer transportation-market count.
The air-market series shows a different pattern from the statewide total. It increased through 2019, fell sharply in summer 2020, and was higher in both 2023 and 2024 than in each listed pre-2020 summer. Summer 2024 air visitors were 839,600, compared with 852,500 in summer 2023. The two figures describe visitor arrivals in their respective summer periods; they are not the same measure as total airport passengers.
The Alaska International Airport System reported approximately 3.4 million passenger enplanements in fiscal 2024, equal to its 2019 enplanement level, according to the Alaska International Airport System 2024 Annual Report. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport handled more than 5.5 million passengers in calendar 2024, according to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport press releases. Enplanements count departing passenger boardings, while an airport passenger total can be reported using a broader airport activity definition, so these measures should not be added to the statewide visitor count.
Cruise arrivals and itinerary mix
Cruise visitors numbered 1,025,900 in summer 2016, 1,089,700 in summer 2017, 1,169,000 in summer 2018 and 1,331,600 in summer 2019. The Commercial Passenger Vessel Tax: FY 2016-2025 report records 1,719,000 cruise visitors in summer 2023 and 1,785,000 in summer 2024.
| Summer period | Cruise visitors |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1,025,900 |
| 2017 | 1,089,700 |
| 2018 | 1,169,000 |
| 2019 | 1,331,600 |
| 2023 | 1,719,000 |
| 2024 | 1,785,000 |
The summer 2024 cruise count was divided between itinerary types in Alaska Visitor Volume, Summer 2024, by Transportation Market. Round-trip itineraries carried 1,324,000 Alaska cruise passengers, or 74% of cruise passengers. Cross-gulf itineraries carried 461,000 passengers, or 26%. Those categories describe the itinerary mix for summer 2024, not an additional visitor total to be combined with the 1,785,000 cruise count.
Glacier Bay recorded 691,387 cruise-ship passengers in calendar 2024, according to the Glacier Bay Fact Sheet from the National Park Service. This is a destination-specific cruise-ship measure. It should be kept distinct from Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve’s 736,282 recreational visits in calendar 2024, because the two figures use different labels and describe different visitation measures.
Highway and ferry arrivals
Highway and ferry visitors numbered 84,500 in summer 2016, 86,100 in summer 2017, 97,200 in summer 2018 and 90,500 in summer 2019. The Commercial Passenger Vessel Tax: FY 2016-2025 report records 7,000 highway and ferry visitors in summer 2020, followed by 77,100 in summer 2023 and 78,300 in summer 2024.
The summer 2024 highway-and-ferry count was below the 2019 count of 90,500, even though total statewide visitor volume was above the 2019 level. In the same transportation-market series, the 2024 air count was 839,600 and the cruise count was 1,785,000. The highway-and-ferry market is therefore a smaller component of the statewide total in the listed years, while still representing a distinct access route for Alaska travel.
The 2020 figure provides the clearest low point in the series: 7,000 highway and ferry visitors compared with 90,500 in 2019. The count recovered to 77,100 in summer 2023 and 78,300 in summer 2024. These comparisons use the summer periods supplied by the Commercial Passenger Vessel Tax: FY 2016-2025 report and do not substitute calendar-year transportation data.
Airport gateway passenger counts
Airport enplanements provide a more localized view of passenger activity. The 2024 Statewide Summary Report, Alaska Airport Pavement Management Program, reports the following calendar 2023 enplanements:
| Airport | Calendar 2023 enplanements |
|---|---|
| Juneau | 440,279 |
| Bethel | 153,548 |
| Ketchikan | 148,645 |
| Kodiak | 85,183 |
| Kenai | 67,062 |
| Nome | 66,883 |
| Kotzebue | 60,124 |
| King Salmon | 38,021 |
| Homer | 34,682 |
Juneau recorded 440,279 enplanements in calendar 2023, making it the highest figure among the listed airports. Bethel recorded 153,548, and Ketchikan recorded 148,645. Kodiak recorded 85,183, followed by Kenai at 67,062, Nome at 66,883 and Kotzebue at 60,124. King Salmon recorded 38,021 enplanements, while Homer recorded 34,682.
These counts help describe the distribution of airport activity among Alaska gateways, but they are not a direct ranking of visitor arrivals. Enplanements measure passenger boardings at individual airports for calendar 2023, whereas the statewide transportation-market figures measure out-of-state visitors during summer periods. Keeping the geography and measurement period explicit prevents the two series from being treated as interchangeable.
National park arrival destinations
National Park Service recreational-visit figures show where travel demand was recorded at major Alaska destinations during calendar 2024. The NPS Annual Visitation Report by Park lists 1,336,008 recreational visits at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska, 736,282 at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, 466,227 at Denali National Park and Preserve, and 419,468 at Kenai Fjords National Park.
The same report lists 36,230 recreational visits at Katmai National Park and Preserve, 18,505 at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and 17,233 at Kobuk Valley National Park. These are park-level recreational visits, not statewide arrivals and not necessarily unique visitors. A single trip can also involve more than one destination, so the park figures should not be summed into the statewide transportation-market total.
| Alaska national park unit | Calendar 2024 recreational visits |
|---|---|
| Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park | 1,336,008 |
| Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve | 736,282 |
| Denali National Park and Preserve | 466,227 |
| Kenai Fjords National Park | 419,468 |
| Katmai National Park and Preserve | 36,230 |
| Lake Clark National Park and Preserve | 18,505 |
| Kobuk Valley National Park | 17,233 |
For a broader economic view, the National Park Service reported 3.3 million visitors to Alaska national parks in calendar 2023. Visitors to Alaska national parks spent $1.5 billion in the state, and that visitor spending supported 21,274 jobs. The same National Park Tourism in Alaska Contributes $2.3 Billion to State Economy release reported a cumulative $2.3 billion benefit to the state economy in 2023. Those figures describe calendar 2023 national-park tourism and its reported economic effects, while the park-by-park counts above describe calendar 2024 recreational visits.