With major cruise tourism developments on the horizon in the capital city, the City and Borough of Juneau is resurrecting a task force to look at whether its current approach to managing tourism is working.
At a Juneau Assembly committee meeting Monday night, members approved the relaunch of the Visitor Industry Task Force and its members. Mayor Beth Weldon said the task force will be crucial in informing the direction the city takes to guide any future growth.
“There is some issues that need to be addressed, and our tourism director relies heavily on these recommendations on how to move forward with her job,” she said.
Juneau saw another record-breaking cruise ship tourism season this past summer, with more than 1.7 million passengers coming off ships and into town.
The task force launches as Goldbelt Incorporated is planning a new $500 million cruise ship port on the backside of Douglas Island. And, that plan coincides with another dock development by Huna Totem Corp., an Alaska Native village corporation based in Hoonah. The Assembly approved the corporation’s plan to build a new cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau this spring.
Weldon said she wants the task force to make big picture recommendations, like a 10-year tourism plan for Juneau. She also wants them to tackle more specific issues like addressing crowding and congestion in Auke Bay, regulating the whale watching industry and reducing ship emissions.
Juneau Assembly member Ella Adkison will chair the committee, along with eight members that Weldon handpicked. They are Kirby Day, Kirsa Hughes-Skandijs, Sarah Lowell, Matt Catterson, Meilani Schijvens, Adrienne Scott, Shem Sooter and Jeremy Timothy.
Some members are returning from the previous task force, which originally sunsetted in 2020. Weldon said they represent a wide range of perspectives on tourism’s future.
“I would say this community is no longer deadly against — as a community as a whole — deadly against tourism,” she said. “Nor are we a community that’s opening our gates wide for tourism.”
The task force has until the end of June to submit its recommendations to the Assembly. The first ship of the 2026 cruise season is slated to arrive in late April.
