Climate Change Raises Concerns for Alaska’s Travel and Tourism Sector

The state capital of Juneau, Alaska, is about 20 minutes’ drive from the Mendenhall glacier. It is among the most visited tourist destinations in the region. However, the glacier is retreating and the ice is melting as a result of climate change. This implies that it is losing more ice and snow than it is gaining. According to researchers at the University of Alaska, Southeast, between 2007 and 2021, the Mendenhall glacier receded by almost 800 meters. Mendenhall empties into a lake teeming with icebergs from a rocky area between mountains. Special markers indicate the glacier’s retreat and indicate the location of the ice.

The glacier’s melting raises concerns for Alaska’s travel and tourist sector. If there is no chance that glaciers will be used in the future, is it really worth building visitor centers? How can tourism executives safeguard glaciers so that tourists can enjoy them? Should the quantity of visitors to the area be restricted? These are the kinds of questions that local officials, tour operators, big boat operators, and the US National Park Service are thinking about. An key component of Juneau’s economy is tourism. In 2023, it is anticipated that 1.6 million cruise ship visitors would make stops in Juneau. That’s the most in a single year ever. In a city with only 30,000 permanent residents, 20,000 people arrive daily on particularly busy days.

Cruise ships are big boats that transport people from one location to another and have sleeping quarters on them. Many cruises begin their week-long journey to Alaska in Vancouver, Canada, or Seattle, Washington. Manoj Pillai is an Indian employee of a cruise liner. Not too long ago, he stepped off his ship and saw the Mendenhall glacier. He exclaimed, “The glacier is so beautiful now.” However, he couldn’t help but imagine how it appeared ten or twenty years ago. Residing in Washington, D.C. is Jennifer Dumas. She has historical photos of Alaska’s glaciers. In the 1990s, she made her first trip to the state and its glaciers with her spouse. She described witnessing another glacier around 20 years ago that was not too distant from the Mendenhall glacier.