Southeast Alaska tourism is strongly shaped by cruise travel. In summer 2024, Alaska recorded an estimated 2,702,900 out-of-state visitors, including 1,785,000 cruise visitors. Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, Haines, and Wrangell all recorded cruise traffic, while resident surveys show both economic activity and pressure on local places and services.
Contents
- Visitor volume and transportation
- Cruise traffic at Southeast Alaska ports
- What Juneau cruise passengers do
- Time and spending in Juneau
- Resident-reported tourism impacts
- Glacier Bay visitation and access
- Ketchikan visitor patterns
Visitor volume and transportation
The Alaska Visitor Volume Summer 2024 & Winter 2024-25 report estimated 2,702,900 out-of-state visitors during summer 2024, defined as May through September. Total Alaska visitor volume increased 2.1% from summer 2023 to summer 2024. The statewide figures provide context for Southeast Alaska, where cruise calls are a central part of the visitor system.
Cruise visitors represented 1,785,000 Alaska visitors, or 66% of the summer 2024 total. Air visitors represented 839,600, or 31%, while highway and ferry visitors represented 78,300, or 3%. Cruise volume increased 3.8%, from 1,719,000 in summer 2023 to 1,785,000 in summer 2024. Air volume decreased 1.5%, from 852,500 to 839,600, and highway/ferry volume increased 1.6%, from 77,100 to 78,300.
| Alaska visitor mode | Summer 2024 visitors | Share of total | Change from summer 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruise | 1,785,000 | 66% | +3.8% |
| Air | 839,600 | 31% | -1.5% |
| Highway/ferry | 78,300 | 3% | +1.6% |
The same report estimated 376,300 visitors during winter 2024-25, covering October 2024 through April 2025. Air travel accounted for 365,400 visitors, or 97% of that winter total. These summer and winter periods are not interchangeable: the summer figure captures the main cruise season, while the winter figure is overwhelmingly air-based.
At land crossings in summer 2024, the Klondike Highway crossing outside Skagway represented 43% of Alaska personal-vehicle border crossings. The Alaska Highway crossing at Beaver Creek represented 36%. Those percentages describe personal-vehicle border crossings, not total visitor arrivals.
Source: Alaska Visitor Volume Summer 2024 & Winter 2024-25.
Cruise traffic at Southeast Alaska ports
Calendar-year 2024 cruise passenger counts show the scale and variety of Southeast Alaska port traffic. Juneau received 1,732,000 cruise passengers, up 3.7% from 2023. Ketchikan received 1,497,700, essentially unchanged from 1,497,200 in 2023. Skagway received 1,257,000, up 5.2%.
Glacier Bay received 702,200 cruise passengers, up 3.7% from 2023, while Sitka received 602,600, up 2.4%. Icy Strait Point received 541,200, up 11.8%. Smaller counts also changed substantially: Haines received 87,700 cruise passengers, up 19.8%, while Wrangell received 16,900, down 26.5%.
| Southeast destination | 2024 cruise passengers | Change from 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Juneau | 1,732,000 | +3.7% |
| Ketchikan | 1,497,700 | Essentially unchanged |
| Skagway | 1,257,000 | +5.2% |
| Glacier Bay | 702,200 | +3.7% |
| Sitka | 602,600 | +2.4% |
| Icy Strait Point | 541,200 | +11.8% |
| Haines | 87,700 | +19.8% |
| Wrangell | 16,900 | -26.5% |
The port figures are passenger counts for calendar year 2024. They should not be added to the statewide summer visitor total as if each represented a unique person: a cruise itinerary can include multiple Southeast destinations, and the statewide figure measures visitors rather than port calls.
Source: Alaska Visitor Volume Summer 2024 & Winter 2024-25.
What Juneau cruise passengers do
The Juneau Cruise Passenger Survey 2023 covered a three-month survey period and was weighted to represent passengers calling at Juneau during that sample period. It found that 70% of surveyed cruise passengers purchased a paid tour or activity. Shopping was reported by 67%, restaurants or bars by 33%, hiking by 23%, and wildlife viewing or bird-watching by 9%.
Among named attractions and activities, Mendenhall Glacier was visited by 26% of surveyed passengers. The Goldbelt tram was used by 20%. Day cruises, including whale-watching and photography trips, were used by 18%, and bus tours to a glacier were also used by 18%. The Whale statue was visited by 12%, while the Totem Pole trail was visited by 9%.
These percentages describe surveyed Juneau cruise passengers during the study’s three-month sample period, not every passenger across the full April–October season. They also describe reported activities, so categories can overlap when one passenger did more than one thing during a visit.
Source: Juneau Cruise Passenger Survey 2023.
Time and spending in Juneau
Surveyed Juneau cruise passengers spent an average of 5.3 hours off their ship in 2023. Their average spending during the Juneau visit was $232 per person. Tours and activities accounted for an average of $129 per person.
The spending figures are averages for the survey population and the reported three-month 2023 study period. The survey notes that spending excludes respondents who did not know or declined to answer. The $129 tours-and-activities figure is one component of the $232 average visit spending; it should not be treated as an additional amount to add on top of the total.
The activity profile helps put that spending in context. Paid tours or activities reached 70% of respondents, while shopping reached 67%. Restaurants or bars reached 33%, and hiking reached 23%. Mendenhall Glacier, the Goldbelt tram, day cruises, and glacier bus tours were among the specifically measured visitor choices.
Source: Juneau Cruise Passenger Survey 2023.
Resident-reported tourism impacts
The Juneau Tourism Survey 2024 collected household perceptions from 501 respondents. In that survey, 45% reported a positive total tourism impact after overall-positive and mixed-positive responses were combined. A combined 26% reported a negative total tourism impact after overall-negative and mixed-negative responses were combined.
Residents also reported specific effects. Seventy percent of surveyed households were somewhat or very affected by downtown sidewalk crowding, and 67% were affected by crowding at Mendenhall Glacier. Vehicle congestion downtown affected 65%, while flightseeing noise affected 54%. Vehicle congestion outside downtown affected 51%.
Other reported impacts included whale-watching boat traffic and wakes at 48%, crowding on trails at 45%, and cruise-ship air emissions at 41%. These are percentages of survey responses, not counts or percentages of all Juneau households. They measure perceived effects in the 2024 resident survey and are not direct measures of visitor behavior or emissions.
Source: Juneau Tourism Survey 2024.
Glacier Bay visitation and access
The National Park Service Glacier Bay Fact Sheet recorded 691,387 cruise-ship passengers in Glacier Bay during calendar year 2024. It also recorded 13,516 tour-vessel passengers, 3,710 backcountry visitors, 773 Bartlett Cove Campground visitors, and 13,748 Glacier Bay Lodge guests.
Glacier Bay’s summer daily vessel limit included a maximum of 2 cruise ships, 3 tour vessels, and 6 charter vessels. These are management limits for vessel access, not visitor totals. The passenger counts and the vessel limits therefore describe different parts of tourism: one measures recorded users over a year, while the other sets a daily summer operating ceiling.
Source: Glacier Bay Fact Sheet.
Ketchikan visitor patterns
The Ketchikan Summer Visitor Profile and Economic Impact Analysis measured summer 2017 travel, so its figures are historical and should not be read as 2024 or 2026 estimates. The study estimated 1,059,200 out-of-state visitors traveled to Ketchikan in summer 2017. Cruise ships carried 95% of those out-of-state visitors, air travel carried 4%, and ferries carried 1%.
The study also estimated that 26,000 cruise-ship crew members visited Ketchikan during summer 2017. Vacation or pleasure was the stated trip purpose for 97% of Ketchikan visitors in the study.
Trip length varied by the type of stay measured. Visitors reported an average Alaska stay of 8.5 nights. Visitors who stayed overnight in Ketchikan reported an average community stay of 5.8 nights. The Alaska-wide and community-level measures are not the same: one covers the full trip, while the other covers time in Ketchikan among overnight visitors.
Source: Ketchikan Summer Visitor Profile and Economic Impact Analysis.