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            Kodiak Island Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Janet Buckingham has an optimistic outlook on tourism in Kodiak despite recently learning that the cruise operator Holland America is cutting some visits to the island. Buckingham addressed the Kodiak City Council last night during its work session.

"The best thing that we can do to keep the cruise industry interested in Kodiak is to keep the consumer interested in Kodiak. So basically we just have to continue doing our job, and - if anything - upping our game to increase the desire to come to Kodiak. If consumers say ‘Hey what happened to that Kodiak cruise?' they will come back eventually."

            Buckingham says the cruise industry is important to tourism in Alaska because 25 percent of people who visit more than once say that their first trip was on a cruise.

"So they come the first time on a ship and then they haven't gotten enough and then they come back as an independent traveler, and frankly that's who we want to grab. They spend the night, they spend the week, and they spend an average of 13 days when they come to Alaska, longer than anywhere else in the State of Alaska. They spend more money in Kodiak than they do anywhere else in the state of Alaska."

            The convention and visitors bureau is seeking $100,000 from the city for FY 2013. It's the same amount they were funded last year.