January 1, 1970
By Ron Peck
Cruising is an important part of the travel industry in Alaska and RCI has been a strong supporter of the Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) and our efforts to promote Alaska globally. It is very unfortunate to see a reduction of a ship deployed to Alaska for 2010. This loss of more than 40,000 passengers will result in a reduction of $40 million in visitor expenditures on the communities that were served by this ship.
As a business operation RCI must obviously weigh the cost of operating in any market and make decisions accordingly. We wish them continued success in Alaska with their two remaining vessels, which will be plying Alaska's waters in 2010 and beyond.
Ron Peck is ATIA's president and chief operating officer