That $8 million breaks down to about $5.43 per tourist.
Longshoremen secure the Royal Caribbean ship Serenade of the Seas to Ketchikan ’s cruise ship docks on July 9, 2021.
The research broke down the costs by city departments. The Ports & Harbors department and emergency services bore the financial brunt of the nearly 1.5 million cruise passengers that passed through the city in 2023. McKinley estimated the total cost to Ports & Harbors to be roughly $3.8 million followed by fire/EMS and police, at $1.3 million and $1 million, respectively.
“We just spend a lot on overtime in the season. Let’s say we schedule three ambulance shifts normally. We’ll schedule five during the season because of the call volume. So we’re not hiring more individuals, but we do have a lot of overtime because of it,” Walsh said, adding that. “What national standards are, we’re probably short three EMTs in spite of the cruise season, just based on our number of calls.
“I’m frustrated because this data is inaccurate – just doesn’t apply, just doesn’t. I think we need to be very careful how we go about using this data,” said Mahtani.Councilmember Mark Flora also expressed concern but with a different aspect of the report. Specifically, Flora pointed to the largest cruise-related expense: the port. Flora said the funding for the port was coming out of the city’s general fund, which he says means that “the residents of Ketchikan are subsidizing port operations.
City Manager Walsh said she sees where Flora is coming from but said it’s not what the data in this study is pointing to. She said the costs shown in the study are not related to port infrastructure but rather what happens when passengers step off the port.
Tourism Cruise Ship Tourism Delilah Walsh Ketchikan Ward Cove
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