Alaska tourists, fewer, spending less mone

Hey folks in the last frontier, I've up your way a great number of times in the last 20 years. Great place!

I'll be visiting in 2010!

The tour companies have most of the tourists locked in/up anyways. They own the buses and the hotels they own or get huge fees from all the day tours/day activity operators they push. A lot of the people they employee are from out of state and they pay little taxes and the taxes they do pay(i.e. cruise head tax) they complain about and threaten to sue us over.

I for one enjoy less people here in Anchorage in the summer. Sure it means less money in the local economy however its nice not having to deal with the crowds/traffic.

Yep, in 1986, the first time we drove to Alaska, I do not recall seeing the Tour buses.

Then in 1993, on our second trip, we saw a few tour buses. By, 1996 and 1997, on our third and fourth trips to the last frontier, we saw a lot more tour buses.

It was very disgusting to be stopped at a wayside and while filming with the CAMcorder a tourist bus pull up and stop. They don't shut-off the engine and folks pour out ......... all the comotion and rattling diesel engine drowns-out any and all efforts to film.

So, I hope when I return in 2010 that the tour bus activity is slow!

Oh, and on the bad sections of road (loose gravel) those tour buses do not slow down!

Windshields are expensive!