Ketchikan's new tourism board will not include the cruise line agencies

Ketchikan's first Tourism Advisory Board will not have the cruise line agencies on it, and it will not take up the question of whether the industry has grown too fast. The city council's ad hoc committee settled both Monday as it finished the board's rules.

That second question stays with the council, which has already shown it is live. On June 4 the council voted 7-0 to postpone a $290,000 design contract for expanding Berth I by a year, after what the minutes describe as a lengthy discussion of the community's capacity for tourists.

The board will advise on an industry that accounts for almost everything. Ketchikan drew 1,608,890 visitors in 2025, and 1.52 million of them arrived by cruise ship. Both figures are slightly down from 2024. The city estimates cruise passenger spending at about $180.4 million, using 2023 data.

Nine people will sit on the board, five make a quorum, and more than three unexcused absences in a year costs a member the seat. Two seats are at-large and one is tied to Indigenous and cultural heritage, with others going to the industry. The city manager and the manager of the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau would sit by virtue of their jobs.

"They're just bringing information to the city council for the city council to act on," the committee's chair said Monday.

The committee is aiming to form the board in November. It meets again Oct. 5 at 6 pm.