Two major cruise companies have cancelled all Alaska sailings for the remainder of the year, including those with inland trips into the Yukon, triggering a major blow to the territory’s tourism industry.

“Tourism is going to really get hit, and that’s true but it’s also the entire economy that’s really going to get hit,” Neil Hartling, the chair of the Tourism Industry Association of Yukon (TIA), told the Star.

Holland America and Princess Cruises both announced this week that all operations will be paused until at least June 30 – with planned Alaska trips cancelled (see related coverage, p. 10).

According to Hartling, Holland America alone brings about 15,000 visitors to the Yukon every cruise season. This translates to a likely $60 million in revenue lost.

The trickle-down effect of these cancellations will be massive, Hartling said.

For example, it will serve a blow to Air North, which flies cruise ship guests from Alaska to Dawson City, and have a major impact on local shops and restaurants in Dawson, Whitehorse and Carcross.

He noted that even local farmers will feel the downturn, because they provide food to restaurants stocking up for the tourist season.

“It’ll be felt throughout the territory,” Hartling said.

Prior to this announcement, Skagway, Alaska was expected to host one million visitors from 473 cruise ship arrivals. A portion of that traffic would have travelled to Carcross via the White Pass and Yukon Route train.

In the height of the tourism season, Carcross sees approximately 1,000 visitors to the community per day – a number that will now hover closer to zero.

It’s currently up in the air whether businesses will be able to open their doors at all, particularly in the Carcross Commons.

Danny Cresswell, chair of the Carcross-Tagish management Corp., said local businesses still have the option to rent retail space in the Commons, but thinks most will abstain.

“It’s going to be a pretty slow summer,” Cresswell predicted.

“Most of those businesses in downtown Carcross won’t even open.”

With the situation changing so rapidly, it’s been challenging for the corporation and the community’s businesses to plan for the season.

The closed Alaska-Yukon border will exert an additional blow to the throngs of tourists usually expected from Alaska.

“We don’t know what rubber tire traffic is going to be like,” Creswell said.

“Your guess is as good as mine – it’s kind of hard to prepare for, it’s here, but we don’t know how severe it’s going to get, or for how long.”

Northern Vision Development (NVD), which operates three Whitehorse and two Dawson City hotels, are currently looking to adjust plans for the summer season.

Michael Hale, NVD’s chief operating officer, told the Star the cruise cancellations were not unexpected.

“The announcement was not a huge surprise at this point, we had worked this into our planning anyway, but there’s no denying it’s just more bad news on top of bad news,” Hale said.

“It was going to be a challenging summer anyway, and this is going to make it more challenging.”

The largest impacts will be felt in Dawson City, Hale said.

NVD had recently purchased the Midnight Sun Hotel there, with plans for a grand opening this summer. That opening is now delayed indefinitely, while the Downtown Hotel continues to operate for the time being.

“We’re evaluating what we’re going to do,” Hale said.

“We intend to have one hell of a coming-out party when we can (for Midnight Sun) but if there’s no tourists in Dawson, we’re just going to have to be rethinking what operates and how things operate.”

In Whitehorse, NVD has closed the Edgewater Hotel and provided the Coast High Country Inn to the Yukon government as a health and isolation centre.

The Gold Rush Inn is now the only NVD hotel in Whitehorse currently open to the public.

“It went from expectations of a very good summer to absolutely collapsing,” Hale said.

“The hope was that with two hotels closed, the third hotel could survive and continue to operate, and so far it has.”

Hale said the mining industry has been a lifeline for the Gold Rush Inn, with mining operations hosting their workers at the hotel upon arrival in the territory as a safe place to self-isolate for the required 14 days.

The Gold Rush Inn has reserved a stand-alone floor for miners in isolation, with meals delivered directly to hotel room doors.

“It’s hard to express how important the mining industry has been to keeping tourism,” Hale said.

“It’s mining companies being incredibly responsible and careful.”

The Yukon government’s takeover of the Coast High Country Inn has also helped the corporation recoup operating costs. There is a similar situation there, where meals are provided to those in self-isolation at the hotel.

Hale said the federal government’s wage subsidy will save several NVD jobs, and the territorial fixed cost grant will be “a huge life jacket” for both small and big businesses.

While government funding has provided relief to many Yukon businesses, Hartling said there are a few tourism businesses that aren’t eligible to receive help.

This is because some seasonal operators aren’t able to prove a 30 per cent reduction in revenue before the tourism season, and cash flow, begins.

There are also several businesses who don’t meet payroll requirements, because they subcontract their services.

TIA is now working to communicate these challenges to the Yukon government, so some leniency can be made.

“We are trying to finetune the funding as much as possible, so as many companies can access it as possible,” Hartling said.

TIA is also trying to come up with a strategy, with the Yukon government to ensure that businesses weather the storm and come out the other side.

“We need to ensure that these companies survive until next season,” Hartling said.

“Most of them, without that help, will disappear.”

The cruise ship passengers’ disappearance will have serious implications on such Dawson City attractions as the Diamond Tooth Gerties casino.

No one from its operator – the Klondike Visitors Association – was available Thursday nor today to comment on how it will manage the coming clientele collapse.