Haines tourism director Steven Auch will travel to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) headquarters on Feb. 25 to pitch Haines as part of efforts to increase cruise-ship revenue after the loss of nearly three-quarters of Holland America’s business.

Last year, Holland America announced that it was cutting sailings to Haines, causing concern in the local business community. In 2019, Holland America sent three ships to Haines for a total of 21 sailings and a maximum of roughly 38,000 passengers. This year, the company will send two ships for a total of seven sailings and a maximum of roughly 10,000 passengers.

According to a report compiled by the McDowell Group for the Alaska Travel Industry Association in 2016, on average, visitors spend $111 while in Haines. Based on this figure, the loss of 28,000 Holland America passengers translates to the loss of approximately $3.1 million in local spending.

RCCL executives agreed to meet with Auch after he emailed describing changes in Haines since the company last had a regular presence in the community, he said.

Twenty years ago, RCCL subsidiaries Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises sailed regularly to Haines. When RCCL pulled out in 2000, the company had been scheduled to make 52 port visits with more than 106,000 passengers in 2001. The company cited rising fuel costs as its reason for leaving. Two years earlier, RCCL pleaded guilty to federal felonies for dumping dry-cleaning and photo-processing chemicals in the upper Lynn Canal.

In 2015, it seemed RCCL might return to Haines. Celebrity Cruises scheduled two test visits that year and the Haines Borough Assembly waived dockage fees in an effort to welcome the company. However, this did not result in regular sailings.

In 2018, RCCL purchased controlling interest in Silversea Cruises, a company known for its small, luxury ships. Auch said Silversea ships may be a particularly good fit for Haines given “their style of clientele and small size.” He plans to pitch to RCCL the benefits of a single-ship port.

Auch said he does not expect immediate results from the meeting. “It’s more than likely that they will have internal discussion afterwards… Cruise lines generally have their itineraries planned two years out. They make decisions in the fall, so chances are if they do make any changes, we wouldn’t expect anything before 2022.” If RCCL decides to send ships, the company would likely begin with a couple of test sailings as it did in 2015, he said.

At this point, it’s too soon to say whether a deal with RCCL could make up for the loss of Holland America’s sailings, Auch said. “(RCCL has) ships of that size for sure. The Silversea brand… are definitely smaller. It would take more of those.”

The maximum number of passengers expected in Haines this cruise season is 36,471, according to the 2020 cruise ship schedule, the fewest since 2014.