The results are in for a survey that polled Skagway residents about the impact of over one million seasonal tourists on daily life. KHNS reporter Melinda Munson shares highlights of the report that gives a glimpse into Skagway’s desire to host an ever increasing number of cruise ship passengers.
In August, the Skagway Visitor Department partnered with Oregon State University to survey the community about sustainable tourism.
One question asked is if the benefits of tourism outweigh the costs. A small majority, 45%, said yes. Thirty percent said the costs outweigh the benefits and 25% were neutral.
The divide is apparent at Skagway Borough assembly meetings. Longtime resident Nan Saldi spoke when tourism capacity was on the Sept. 5 agenda. She fought back tears.
“It’s too much,” Saldi said. “Our valley cannot handle it. The people in the valley cannot handle it. The people that work here cannot handle it. It’s too much, and I just hope that you figure out a way to cut it back.”
The following assembly meeting, Steve Hites, who runs a tour company, passionately defended running Skagway at full capacity, seven days a week.
“Reality is that dozens of businesses employ hundreds of people that all rely on four-ship days in Skagway to make their living,” he said. “They wash their windows, they rearrange their shops, they get their grills going in the morning. They need four ships. That’s the reality.”
Todd Montgomery is a professor at the Oregon State University Sustainable Tourism Lab. He used to work to attract tourists to new destinations. After observing communities becoming degraded by tourism, his job now is to understand community capacity.
“Our mission is pretty simple – to protect destinations for future generations of visitors and residents,” Montgomery said. “The key word there is residents. We’ll talk a lot about the balance here, but one of the things that I just want to emphasize is we have no skin in the game here, right? We’re an objective source of information. Our only goal, my only goal, is that in 50 years, my kids can visit Skagway and have the same type of experience that I’m having now.”
Montgomery said 365 people responded to the survey, a “massive” response for a town with an approximate year-round population of 800. Almost half of the respondents have lived in Skagway for over 20 years. Most of them own their home, with 23% renting and 14% living in employee housing.
One survey question asked: Does the current infrastructure and visitor service support the amount of tourism you currently have for that destination? A staggering 75% of Skagwegians answered no.
Montgomery applauded Skagway for participating in the discussion. He says that the survey is one way for residents to be heard.
“I would just simply say Skagway, just by doing this process, is far and away ahead of most destinations in the world,” he said. “Because a lot of times there’s just the politics. So that engagement is a big deal.”
Montgomery emphasized that time is of the essence for communities as they craft their tourism model. He believes Skagway still has the ability to make decisions to find its balance.
“So there is a sense of urgency for communities, because once you’re in that mature stage, then we don’t have a lot of levers that we can pull,” he said. “Zoning has been set. Green spaces have predominantly been set. Policies, taxation. I mean, everything has been set. There’s just not a lot of levers that we can pull to really find that balance. Whereas I think in Skagway, you are really in a great spot where you still have levers that you can pull, you can still decide where you want to be.”
The assembly was waiting for the results of the tourism survey, and did not set an agenda item following the tourism capacity discussion.