Murkowski honored by travel industry for her work on tourism leg of ‘three-legged stool’ economy

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The American Society of Travel Advisors presented U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski with the 2021 Global Travel Advocate Award for her efforts to support the travel and tourism industry, as well as her efforts to keep travel agencies and businesses open through a number of provisions in multiple COVID-19 relief packages. ASTA is a trade association for travel agents whose Executive Vice President for Advocacy Eban Peck, pictured above, made the award.

On May 24, 2021, the President signed into law the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act, led by Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Congressman Don Young, providing regulatory breaks for Alaska’s struggling cruise tourism industry. Cruises to Alaska are set to start in July, as a result, although smaller cruise ships have been visiting the state for over a month.

“Senator Murkowski’s efforts in support of the travel agency sector and the travel industry as a whole since COVID-19 hit have been a ray of light for our members during the most challenging time of their professional lives. From supporting inclusion of travel agencies in the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program to superhuman efforts to salvage a portion of the 2021 Alaska cruise season to advocating for tax incentives to speed the return of business and leisure travel, her work has helped travel agencies in Alaska and beyond survive this crisis. On behalf of the 375 Alaskans who work at travel agencies in the state and travel advisors everywhere, we are honored to present Senator Murkowski the 2021 ASTA Global Travel Advocate award,” said Zane Kerby, President and CEO of ASTA.

ASTA has 13 member accounts listed in Alaska, 10 of which belong to Visit Anchorage and the Alaska Railroad Corporation.

“Alaska’s economy is a three legged stool, with one of those being our tourism industry. So to say that travel and tourism is important to Alaska’s economy is an understatement.  During the coronavirus pandemic, travel and tourism came to a big halt across much of the U.S., but for a state where so many of our communities rely on tourism for their economies, Alaska was among the states most severely impacted,” said Murkowski. “From the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act to the COVID relief packages, I’ve prioritized efforts to help bring tourism back and keep Alaskans afloat through the hardships created by the pandemic. I appreciate this recognition and I am thankful for all the Alaskans who have worked with me in these endeavors.”

11 COMMENTS

  1. I was leaning towards a Nobel Piece prize or maybe a Grammy or both.
    These awards are all jokes.
    Our country is almost toast and this …… ….. is part of the problem.

  2. Not a leader. Neither is Sullivan or Young. I am sorry I voted for all of them. It is all becoming quite clear how deeply corrupt our government is.

  3. Vote this loser out, end of story
    Lisa does not care about you or Alaska. Just what’s in it for her.

  4. Tourism is fine, but she has done nothing in the way to support Alaska’s energy production. When puppet Biden shut down our oil leases, a fringe group out of Washington state sues to shut down our fishing, Canada locks us out…she is all very silent on these. Three legged stool? No, I’d say a pogo stick.

  5. Any politician that supports an unregulated industry over the people that live in the areas that the industry affects will not get my vote. The related tourist fishery should have come under limited entry decades ago, it didn’t and now my self, wife, kids and grandkids are suffering. No rock fish, hook and kill kings, ect. Liza does not want us to live here. Well I ain’t leaving.

  6. Murkowski’s stool only has one leg. It wobbles all over the place and leans far to the left. Trump is going to cut that leg off too.

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