Alaska made the list. The annual “Best in Travel Destinations” includes Alaska in the top 30 places to go in 2023. Alaska was in one of the five categories listed by the publication, which called Alaska an “epic” travel experience.
“Bears larger than bison, national parks the size of nations, and glaciers bigger than other US states. The word ‘epic’ barely does Alaska justice.”
In 2022, Alaska saw about one million visitors by cruise ship, but had the capacity for more. The ships were about three-quarters full, having started from zero due to two years of Covid cancellations. The last cruise ship of the season, Norwegian Encore, returned to Seattle on Oct. 23. The next cruise ship is April 22, 2023.
Getting back to pre-pandemic levels, the cruise industry has the capacity to go beyond the 2019 level and get to 1.6 million visitors, industry sources told Must Read Alaska. Demand is high, sources said, and the market is strong. While earlier there was a high degree of uncertainty with Canada’s border being closed and with unknown variants of the Covid virus, but those uncertainties don’t seem to exist for 2023.
It’s the 18th year for the Lonely Planet’s Top 30 list, which starts with nominations from the company’s extensive community of staff, writers, bloggers, publishing partners, and others. The nominations are whittled down by its panel of travel experts to just 30 destinations. Each is chosen for its topicality, unique experiences, ‘wow’ factor and its ongoing commitment to sustainability, community and diversity.
“Pure, raw, unforgiving and humongous in scale, Alaska is a place that arouses basic instincts and ignites what Jack London termed the ‘call of the wild.’ Yet, unlike London and his gutsy, gold-rush companions, visitors today will have a far easier time penetrating the region’s vast, feral wilderness. Indeed, one of the beauties of the 49th state is its accessibility. Few other places in the US allow you to scale an unclimbed mountain, walk where – quite possibly – no human foot has trodden before, or sally forth into a national park that gets fewer annual visitors than the International Space Station,” Lonely Planet said.
“For savvy repeat visitors, the real joys of Alaska are the ones you least expect: ginormous vegetables, epic bus rides, half-forgotten Russian cemeteries, friendly, hassle-free airports, and dive bars where no one’s rethought their hairstyle since 1984. Welcome to a state with as many offbeat attractions as off-the-beaten-track locations. Imagine a land where locals still go subsistence hunting, campers plan gold-panning expeditions in the wilderness and wi-fi is just a rumor. Pitch in with a quirky medley of contrarians, rat-race escapees, wanderers, dreamers, back-to-the-landers and Alaska Natives and discover what makes America’s biggest state tick,” the publication wrote.
Photo credit: OceanRaftAlaska.com
