Visitors Rediscover the Wonders of Alaska

       Traveling to the state of Alaska has been on many travelers bucket list of places to visit. According to the Alaska Division of Economic Development, after a sharp decline from 2008, a record of nearly 2 million visitors will visit the Land of the Midnight Sun in 2014.  The growth in visitors to the state has been in both the traditional cruise passengers touring the state, and a major expansion of air service into the state.

        After the state lowered it state passenger head tax from $46 to $34.50 several years ago, the cruise lines added more and newer ships to the market.  Holland America added more departures to the state and Celebrity Cruises sent on of its newer Solstice Class ship to the state for the first time in 2013.  This lead to a 6% increase of cruise passengers visiting Alaska in 2013 over 2012 to just under 1 million visitors.  Cruise passengers in 2014 is expected to be down slightly because of the redeployment of several smaller Princess ships to Asia.  The volume is expected to come back and be at near record levels in 2015 when Princess deploys the 3000+ passenger capacity Ruby Princess to the state.

       Alaska has seen it highest growth of visitors arriving by air.  Over 1 million visitors, an increase of 20% in the past 5 years, will arrive in the state through the airport in Anchorage in 2014.  This has been a direct result of major expansion of service into Anchorage by the major air carriers; including JetBlue, Delta, and United in both the number of flights and in airports offering direct connections to the state.  

        One of the effects of this growth in tourism in the state has been a trend of younger visitors discovering the wonders of Alaska.  According to the Alaska Visitor Statistics Program, the average age of a visitor to the state in 2012 was 50.7; down from 51.6 average over the prior 5 years.  With more and younger tourists visiting the state, national companies who serve the tourist/visitor market, such as Hard Rock Cafe, are establishing businesses in the state for the first time.

       So if you have ever thought about visiting one of the most spectacular places on the planet, you have never had more options.  From more cruises, to more airline options, the chance to experience the beauty and wonders of Alaska has never been so easy.  Time to take one item off your bucket list; you will be glad you did.

Princess Cruises Adding a New Ship

       Led by Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean; the cruise industry has seen an explosion of new state of the art ships entering service over the last several years.   Even thou Princess Cruises has added two new ships since 2013, the Royal and Regal Princess, the parent company of Princess, Carnival Corporation,  has been late to the game adding new ships to its other North American based lines.  This is being addressed as both Holland American and Carnival Cruises will be adding a new ship into service over the next several years.  The new Carnival ship, the Carnival Breeze, is expected to offer both a revolutionary design and features.  It was thought that Princess would be left out of getting any new ships for the the next decade as Carnival Corporation was expected to focus new ship building on Holland America and Carnival.

       So it came as a surprise to the cruise industry when Princess announced this week, it will add a third ship of the Royal class.  The ship will be delivered in 2017, and will be slightly larger than her sister ships, a 143,000 ton vessel with a capacity to carry 3560 passengers.  It assumed she will have more enhancements than either the Royal or Regal, and their are rumours that the design changes may be more radical, in line with new Carnival Vista; in order to better compete with the cutting edge designs of Royal Caribbean's Quantum and Anthem of the Seas.