This positive economic contribution spread across every state economy via $18 billion in direct cruise industry spending, with 10 states accounting for 78 percent of total employment and income impacts.
“These job numbers are good news given the challenging economy. We are pleased with the strong gains in the cruise industry’s economic contributions, and that CLIA-member lines were directly or indirectly responsible for putting nearly 330,000 Americans to work,” said CLIA Chairman Howard Frank.
According to “The Contribution of the North American Cruise Industry to the U.S. Economy in 2010,” prepared by BREA (Business Research & Economic Advisors) for CLIA, total industry direct expenditures with U.S.-based businesses increased by 5 percent to $18 billion. As a result of direct spending, the cruise industry generated the direct employment of 140,359 workers who earned $5.84 billion with U.S. businesses. In aggregate the direct employment and wage impacts increased by 4.4 percent and 6.5 percent respectively, over 2009.
The economic benefits arise from five principal sources -- spending by cruise passengers and crew for goods and services associated with their cruise; shoreside staffing by the cruise lines for their headquarters, marketing and tour operations; expenditures by the cruise lines for goods and services necessary for cruise operations; spending by the cruise lines for port services at U.S. ports of embarkation and ports of call; and expenditures by cruise lines for the maintenance and repair of vessels at U.S. shipyards, as well as capital expenditures for port terminals, office facilities and other capital equipment.
In Florida, which accounts for 60 percent of all U.S. embarkations, the industry generated $6.3 billion in direct spending which helped create 123,255 jobs paying $5.4 billion in income. California, with 10 percent of the cruise industry’s direct expenditures, was the beneficiary of $1.8 billion in spending and 41,697 jobs. New York, with a 32 percent increase in passengers and crew visits in 2010, accounted for 6.7 percent of direct expenditures, with the industry generating $1.2 billion in spending and creating 14,833 jobs. Texas, with a 31 percent increase for last year, generated $1.1 billion in spending and 16,457 jobs. In order, the remaining top 10 states for economic impact were Alaska, Washington, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois and Colorado.
Florida’s pre-eminent position is largely due to its five cruise ports -- Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, Tampa and Jacksonville. Florida led a list of 15 ports of embarkation that account for 90.7 percent of total U.S. embarkations. In order, the top 10 ports are Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, New York, Seattle, Galveston, Long Beach, Tampa, Los Angeles and New Orleans. There were 9.7 million U.S. embarkations in 2010.
The economic impact report also noted that CLIA member lines carried 14.8 million passengers in 2010, an increase of 10.3 percent, the largest year-over-year jump since 2003. Similar to the rest of the travel industry, while occupancy and demand are up year-over-year, rates are still below where they were before the recession. Resident U.S. cruise passengers reached the 10 million mark for the first time, with a record number of embarkations at U.S. ports. With the addition of nine new ships, CLIA lines increased fleetwide lower berth capacity to 307,707 on 176 ocean-going ships, an 8.1 percent rise. Despite the capacity increase, CLIA member line ships operated at 103.1 percent occupancy in 2010. For more information, visit www.cruising.org/pressroom-research/market-research.
