Cruise Industry Brings in Billions to Fla.
FloridaToday
July 30, 2009
BY WAYNE T. PRICE
The cruise industry remains an essential element of the Florida economy, even in choppy economic waters, generating more than 128,000 jobs statewide and $6.3 billion in direct spending in 2008, according to a report released Wednesday by the industry's leading trade group.
With six major cruise ships homeported at Port Canaveral, which along with ports in Miami and Ft.Lauderdale comprise the three busiest cruise ports in the nation, the economic impact of the industry on BrevardCounty is substantial.
In its report, Cruise Lines International Association said a typical 2,500-passenger cruise ship has a $330,000 economic impact each time it prepares to leave for destinations, mostly in local spending by cruise passengers and crew.That happens more than 250 times each year at Port Canaveral, which is or will soon be home to the biggest ships on the seas. Royal Caribbean's 4,370 passenger Freedom of the Seas arrived in May, and Carnival Cruise Lines' 3,652-passenger Dream is coming to Port Canaveral this fall.
Two 4,000-passenger ships from Disney are scheduled to be homeported at Port Canaveral in 2011 and 2012.
"The cruise industry serves as a valuable economic partner that has made Port Canaveral one of the primary economic engines for BrevardCounty," said Bobby Giangrisostomi, deputy executive director of business development for Port Canaveral.
Port Canaveral's last cruise-specific economic impact study was in 2003. At that time, the cruise industry was responsible for an estimated 9,000 jobs, $212.5 million wages and $163 million in annual economic output in Brevard.
The outlook is improving for the cruise industry in general, according to CLIA.
"We're continuing to put passengers on these ships and I think we're seeing light at the end of the tunnel," Bob Sharak, the association's executive vice president, said Wednesday.
Statewide, cruise lines added $6.3 billion in direct spending to Florida's economy last year, accounting for more than 33 percent of total cruise spending nationwide, the study said. It also said cruising generated 128,910 in-state jobs paying nearly $5.5 billion in wages.
Cruise spending touched on numerous industries in the state, the study found. More than $3.3 billion from cruise line spending went to travel agencies, airlines, hotels, restaurants, advertising agencies and amusement facilities.
"Florida homeports more cruise ships than any other state in the nation, meaning that the cruises begin and end at the same port. Therefore, the cruise ports in Florida provide an added economic impact to our airports, hotels, restaurants, retail stores, taxis, attractions and ship suppliers," Phil Allen, director of Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, told CLIA. "In addition, because the cruise ships are getting larger, ports have to expand their facilities which provide construction jobs."
Nationally last year, direct spending in goods and services by cruise lines and their passengers totaled $19.1 billion, a 2 percent increase over the previous year.