Ketchikan has broken its previous record for the highest number of cruise ship visitors.
According to the City of Ketchikan, preliminary counts show 960,262 passengers visited the community via cruise ship in 2013. That’s an increase of 8.4 percent over last year, and handily beat the 2008 record.
That previous record, which was set just before the effects of the economic meltdown, was 930,958 passengers.
The annual run of summer tourists visiting Ketchikan means revenue for local businesses and government. And so far, the City of Ketchikan’s sales tax collection is slightly higher than projected.
According to the reported results, which run through July, the total collected for this year is $6.35 million. That’s about $36,000 more than anticipated through that month.
The city’s budget projects total sales tax revenue of about $10.3 million for all of 2013. Whether the city hits that goal won’t be known until the start of next year.
