Nome hosts Arctic cruises, tourism expected to expand
Wealthy Europeans have been trying to do the Northwest Passage for about the last 600 years.
Cruise-ship passengers are an increasingly common sight during Nome’s summer. But unlike the tourists that flood the streets in March for the Iditarod, passengers aboard ships like the Bremen -- a German cruise ship that passed through Nome earlier this month -- a majority of them are European and know very little of what Nome has to offer. In fact, many only know the town for its role in the Last Great Race, Alaska Dispatch News reports.
Andrew Mew, a vessel agent for Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska, thinks history has a lot to do with the popularity of Arctic cruises among Europeans.
“I think it’s a combination of, well, the fact that wealthy Europeans have been trying to do the Northwest Passage for about the last 600 years,” explained Mew.