Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Of Commerce – Neighborhood Information : Cantwell’s Management Shines In Alaska Tourism Restoration Act Victory

Part of the Seattle cruise season begins

On June 3, the Seattle Metro Chamber, along with the Port of Seattle and other regional partners, thanked Senator Maria Cantwell for her guidance on the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act, which will restart our region’s cruise season by directing ships leaving Washington state can sail to Alaska and temporarily lifted the requirement to moor a foreign Canadian port.

Before this bill was approved by Congress, despite updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), our cruise season was suspended due to a cruise ban in Canada.

The loss of the 2020 Alaska cruise season has dealt a significant economic blow to shipping, business, tourism, and cruise companies across the Puget Sound area. As Crosscut reported: “On the way into the canceled 2020 season, the port expected over 1.3 million passengers boarding 225 different departures from seven major cruise lines [Port of Seattle] estimates that each ship call equates to economic activity of $ 4.2 million and that the industry supports approximately 5,500 jobs in Washington. “

Another year without these activities due to Canada’s cruise ban would have been a really daunting obstacle to our region’s economic recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act removes that hurdle and enables us, in partnership with local and state health officials and the CDC, to drive a safe and healthy restart to the cruise season.

Senator Cantwell’s work on this bill was a major undertaking: getting it through the US Senate with unanimous consent, working with colleagues on all sides of the issue, and focusing the bill on key issues. The fact that the Senate had to vote twice on this bill, once on the Senate version and then again on the House version, makes the achievement even more exceptional.

Bravo!