Sitka tourism documentary ‘Cruise Boom’ to debut on PBS

Summer visitors successful Sitka, seen successful nan documentary “Cruise Boom.” (Courtesy ArtChange, Inc.)

Sitka-based filmmaker Ellen Frankenstein’s latest documentary, “Cruise Boom,” premieres nationwide Saturday connected PBS. The nationalist debut culminates years of activity connected nan portion of Frankenstein and her co-director Atman Mehta, who explored some nan imaginable benefits and downsides of cruise tourism’s explosive maturation successful Sitka.

Frankenstein and Mehta began filming “Cruise Boom” successful 2021, arsenic Sitka transitioned from nan 2020 pandemic summertime of zero cruise passengers. The Southeast Alaska municipality began a startling rebound to astir 600,000 passengers successful 2023 – astir 3 times much than a emblematic summertime anterior to nan pandemic.

“Cruise Boom,” however, is not a scathing indictment of nan industry. Frankenstein wants nan assemblage to deliberation broadly astir what’s unfolding, arsenic communities respond to nan surging numbers.

“It is simply a really analyzable rumor we effort to screen successful a very impressionistic film, because tourism, arsenic we know, is ace complex,” Frankenstein said. “Everybody loves to travel. We each emotion experiencing caller places. The economical broadside is truthful amazing, because we person caller nutrient trucks successful town, caller businesses and each these bully things. But globally, you can’t miss it successful nan news that over-tourism, aliases nan saturation of tourism, is affecting places. And there’s pushback from Barcelona to Bali, there’s an upcoming ballot successful Juneau astir ship-free Saturdays. So it’s conscionable this absorbing speech that is not conscionable pertinent to Sitka. So erstwhile group respond to this movie elsewhere, they’re seeing it benignant of arsenic a lawsuit study.”

RELATED: With cruise postulation booming, Alaska’s recreation manufacture looks to boost independent traveler numbers

Frankenstein and Mehta intend nan movie to stimulate conversation. In fact, location are respective scenes successful nan movie that are conscionable speech – Sitkans discussing really to confront, and perchance manage, nan accelerated growth. 

No 1 is unsighted to nan evident benefits, arsenic caller businesses look downtown, and nan municipal fund swells pinch accrued income taxation revenues. But location are hazards, too.

In an excerpt from nan film, 4 anonymous Sitkans talk nan early of their city:

“I’m either a fifth aliases sixth-generation Sitkan, and successful bid for myself, my family, friends, to proceed to beryllium capable to unrecorded here, location has to beryllium an economical intends for america to activity and make money.”

“I don’t want america to beryllium a destination. I worth our community, because we’re a community. You know, nan pulp mill sustained nan organization for years, but had excesses successful really overmuch it logged and really accelerated it logged successful nan environment. Cruise ships is simply a akin thing.”

“If we’re going to thief style tourism, we really person to beryllium progressive and engaged stakeholders. That intends talking to nan cruise vessel lines. It intends asking nan difficult questions.”

“The communicative is unfolding correct now. So we can’t show nan ending because it’s happening correct now.”

Frankenstein and Mehta changeable nan movie complete a mates of years, truthful Frankenstein describes it now arsenic history, though Sitka is acold from settled into nan caller measurement of passengers. They released unsmooth cuts early successful nan process, and person shown nan last movie respective times, astir precocious for a group of postgraduate environmental-policy students from Johns Hopkins University.

Frankenstein says nan screening prompted an aggravated speech astir solutions.

“When there’s thing for illustration this that happened to Sitka successful different place, who is responsible to thief negociate it and spot really it each useful out?” asked Frankenstein. “And we had this discussion: Is it nan work of nan metropolis and nan government? Is it citizens? Is it tourists? Do we expect visitors to beryllium much responsible successful nan measurement they travel?”

RELATED: Sitka’s 13,000-visitor time was ‘far excessively many,’ politician says

For Alaskans who unrecorded successful tourism destinations, “Cruise Boom” is simply a benignant of mirror. The movie is group successful Sitka, but nan aforesaid questions are being asked successful galore of nan state’s different coastal communities.

“We’ve besides had organization screenings successful places for illustration Skagway and Cordova and Homer successful nan state, and Juneau, and it’s been great,” Frankenstein said. “People person this chat astir their narration to tourism and what they worth successful their communities?”

“Cruise Boom” will beryllium disposable to watercourse connected the PBS website aliases app opening Saturday. The movie will aerial connected KTOO tv astatine 7 p.m. Sunday, past beryllium broadcast connected nan PBS tv web nationwide – including Alaska’s PBS stations – starting Tuesday. To study astir different ways to position nan film, sojourn the Artchange, Inc. website.

KCAW’s Darryl Rehkopf contributed to this story.

Listen to nan afloat question and reply pinch Ellen Frankenstein: