Ferry roster dings ‘Golden Circle’

Cuts in Alaska Marine Highway System ferry service to and from Skagway have driven RV and car travelers away from Haines, causing anxiety for local business owners.

AMHS ferries running between Haines and Skagway are a crucial part of the “Golden Circle,” a 400-mile loop connecting Whitehorse, Y.T., Skagway, Haines, and Haines Junction, Y.T. The loop is a popular tourist route that’s been part of tourism marketing here for decades.

“The Haines and the Klondike highways – both of those roads are outrageous. They’re beautiful,” said Haines tourism director Leslie Ross. “(The ferry) allows people to drive all those roads and not repeat them. You can just tie in a multi-day adventure.”

But Alaska’s budget crisis is threatening the Golden Circle. A $16 million cut to the marine highway’s $108 million budget has hit service between Haines and Skagway particularly hard.

In June 2015, AMHS ferries made 64 trips between Haines and Skagway. This June, that number dropped to 41, and of the 23 Skagway-to-Haines trips, five were aboard the Fairweather, which holds only 31 average-sized vehicles.

This summer, service either to or from Skagway occurs on only one Wednesday a month, and three Sundays over the entire summer – two of which came in June.

“(Tourists) see that if they can go down to Skagway and across to Haines on the ferry, they’ll do this one-way loop,” said Alison Jacobson, CEO of Alaska Fjordlines, which operates a water taxi between Haines and Skagway. “But it has to work. They have to be able to get their RV on the ferry.”

Without daily or weekend ferry service to or from Haines, tourists in RVs or cars are less likely to complete the Golden Circle. Instead, some are opting for routes that avoid the ferry system, and Haines, entirely.

Businesses that cater to travelers in independent vehicles and RVs have suffered the worst from the schedule cuts. Joyce Town, owner of Oceanside RV Park, said her business has been hit hard.

“It’s screwing (my business) up terribly,” she said. Of Oceanside RV Park’s 23 RV spots, Town said, only 10 were filled this past Monday night. “This is July,” she said. “I’m usually packed.”

Town said she has tried to introduce new events to entice guests to stay longer. “I have a crab feed potluck on Tuesday and Thursday,” she said. “That keeps people around.”

Fred Bretthauer, owner of the Haines Hitch-Up RV Park, had similar sentiments. “It’s a disaster,” he said. In the summer, much of the Hitch-Up’s business comes from RV caravans, groups of 20 to 25 people staying a handful of days. This summer, Bretthauer said, he’s had two caravans cancel. “They said, ‘We cannot trust the ferry system. We’re not going to come back to Haines,’” Bretthauer said.

Hitch-Up’s business is on the rise, Bretthauer admitted, but he attributes that to other factors – the weak Canadian dollar, cheap fuel, and a strengthening economy in the Lower 48. “We are not getting the increase that the RV parks on the (Alaska Highway) are getting,” he said.

For other businesses in the hospitality industry, the weak Canadian dollar has done more harm than good. Cheryl Katzeek, manager of the Captain’s Choice Motel, said the exchange rate, along with ferry service cuts, has hit her business hard. “We haven’t had a single full house since (last year),” said Katzeek. “This was the first Easter that I saw no Canadian guests.”

Katzeek said the motel is offering a special rate to Canadian visitors – 50 percent off through May, and 20 percent off for the summer – to cut her losses. “It is helping,” she said. Still, Katzeek says the motel is seeing only about 70 percent of last year’s guests.

The economic impact of the decrease in visitors is hard to measure, and full data won’t be available for some time, said tourism director Ross. But, citing a 2011 study that found the average tourist in Haines spent $152 per day, Ross estimates the losses are significant.

Options for Haines residents are limited, said Ross. She says she voices her concerns during the periods for public comment on AMHS schedules, and she encourages Haines residents to do the same. “It’s going to be a constant battle, with the budget cuts,” she said.

Jeremy Woodrow, DOT spokesman, said the AMHS is doing its best to cope with the state’s budget crisis. “We always try to maximize service to Alaskans with the budget that’s provided,” Woodrow said.

Jeff Butcher, owner of the Hotel Halsingland, said the decrease in car travelers on the Golden Circle is affecting his business, too. Without a reliable, frequent link between Haines and Skagway, he said, the whole business model for tourism on the Golden Circle has changed.

“Now it’s the Golden Horseshoe,” he said.