A visitor favorite in Fairbanks is a stop at the trans-Alaska pipeline, which stretches 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. More than 15 million barrels of oil have moved through the pipeline since startup in 1977.
January 1, 1970
FAIRBANKS - The cruise industry injects $53 million into the Fairbanks economy each year, contributes $5.8 million to local government in taxes and fees and creates 481 direct jobs in cruise line hotel and tour operations, according to an economic impact study conducted by the McDowell Group.
Fairbanks is visited by nearly all cruise passengers who take in a land tour before or after their cruise. Most cruise visitors to Fairbanks participate in the Riverboat Discovery day cruise on the Chena River; gold dredge tours; and city tours that stop at the pipeline and the University of Fairbanks. Typically, passengers spend one or two nights in Fairbanks.
The cruise industry purchases good and services from 442 Fairbanks businesses. Statewide, the cruise industry brought $1.35 billion in to the Alaska economy. Cruise passenger spending directly or indirectly counts for half of the economic activity, followed by cruise line purchases and wages. The industry generated an estimated $100 million for state and local governments, with half going to the state and half to local governments.