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ICCL News Release Archives
CRUISE INDUSTRY SPENT $994 MILLION IN ALASKA IN 2005
ARLINGTON, Va. (Aug. 31, 2006) -- The cruise industry spent $994 million in the state of Alaska in 2005, a 30 percent increase over the previous year. This spending supported nearly 21,400 jobs, which paid $792 million in wages and salaries, according to an annual economic impact study by Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA). The study was commissioned by the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL).
Alaska is the premiere cruise destination market in the United States. Due to its northern geographical location, the state is a seasonal destination from late May through September. It received more than 3.2 million cruise passenger visits* - approximately three-fourths of all port-of-call visits at U.S. ports in 2005 and a 12 percent increase over 2004. Alaska's homeporting operations generated 163,500 passenger embarkations on turnaround cruises between Alaska ports and Vancouver, Canada.
"The businesses of Alaska greatly benefit from cruise tourism," said Gov. Frank Murkowski. "We are proud to share our beautiful state with those who travel here by cruise ship."
Cruise lines maintain significant tour operations in Alaska and employed more than 2,000 full- and part-time employees during 2005. During the peak cruise season, lines employed more than 3,000 workers and averaged about 2,000 full-time equivalent employees.
Alaska ranked fourth in the United States, after Florida, California and New York, at $994 million in direct cruise industry spending. Tourism-related businesses such as tour operators, airlines, hotels, restaurants and ground transportation providers received approximately $730 million, slightly more than 80 percent of the industry's direct expenditures in Alaska. Another $45 million was spent with food processors, construction firms, employment agencies, trucking and utility companies.
Nationwide, the North American cruise industry generated a total of $32.4 billion into the U.S. economy in 2005, an increase of nearly 8 percent over 2004. The BREA study also found that the cruise industry supported more than 330,000 U.S. jobs and paid $13.5 billion in wages and salaries in 2005.
The complete economic study can be found on the ICCL Web site at www.iccl.org.
NEWS DIRECTORS/ASSIGNMENT EDITORS NOTE: Broadcast-quality Beta-SP B-roll video is available upon request. Contact Buck Banks or Julie Ellis at 305-461-3300, buck@newmanpr.com or julie@newmanpr.com.
* Since individual cruise passengers will make several port-of-call visits on any itinerary, passenger visits are approximately three times greater than the number of passengers taking cruises to U.S. ports-of-call.
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