Travel

U.S. Cruises Step Closer to Restarting as Alaska Bill Passes


Cruises from United States ports came one step closer to restarting this summer when the House approved a measure on Thursday that will temporarily allow large cruise ships to sail to Alaska and bypass a legal requirement to stop at Canadian ports, which have banned cruise ships until 2022 because of the pandemic.

Most major cruise lines had canceled their summer Alaska voyages because most of the ships are foreign-owned and under maritime law they are required to visit at least one foreign port when traveling between states. Cruises between Washington and Alaska typically stop in Canada. Canada’s ban had effectively killed the Alaskan summer cruise season, which provides many of the state’s tourism dollars.

The scenic port town of Skagway, set along a popular cruise route in southeast Alaska, usually sees close to 1.3 million tourists over the course of the summer, with $160 million flowing into its economy from the cruise industry each year.

The Alaska Tourism Restoration Act, which the House passed Thursday, was passed by the Senate last week and still needs to be signed into law by President Biden. It will allow cruise ships to sail directly to Alaska without having to visit Canada.



Sahred From Source link Travel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *