The cruise ship lines have created a very controlled revenue stream.  Tourists arrive on ships, move around in buses and rail cars, stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, and shop at gift/jewlery shops that are all controlled by the cruise line.  So when these folks have a few brief opportunities to view something that is, or at least appears to be, "real Alaska," they simply eat it up.  For many of these folks, the only opportunity they have to shop in a town that's not half controlled by the cruise line is when they stop in Talkeetna.   If we can figure out more ways to get people into places like this without giving all their money to the cruise lines, we could create the next Alaskan gold rush.