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In a bid to boost its flagging cruise tourism industry the Alaskan governor Sean Parnell recently signed legislation to cut cruise visitor taxes from $46 to $34.50 per person, with deeper offsets for ships stopping in at least one of two popular ports, Juneau and Ketchikan.
However cruise operators have already set 2011 itineraries so benefit from this move will not be immediate and the change does not come into effect until October.
The American state has seen a sharp fall in demand in recent years, with a further three ships repositioned away from Alaska ahead of the current season, with the loss of an anticipated 140,000 passengers.
Royal Caribbean, Princess and Holland America Line are among those who have acted to reduce capacity in the region.
Parnell has also outlined an 80 per cent boost for the state’s tourism marketing budget.