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ICCL News Release Archives
CRUISE INDUSTRY ECONOMIC IMPACT EXCEEDS $5 BILLION IN FLORIDA
ARLINGTON, Va. (Aug. 31, 2006) -- The cruise industry spent nearly $5.5 billion in Florida in 2005 and supported more than 128,000 jobs paying nearly $4.8 billion in income. In an annual economic impact study commissioned by the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA) found that Florida was the nation's top beneficiary of cruise industry economic benefits with nearly 34 percent of direct cruise industry spending and 39 percent of the industry's national employment last year.
Florida ports embarked more than 4.8 million cruise passengers in 2005 - 56 percent of all U.S. embarkations. The Port of Miami remains the busiest cruise port in the United States and Florida, boarding nearly 1.8 million passengers last year, followed closely by Port Everglades with almost 1.3 million and Port Canaveral with 1.2 million. Tampa also ranked in the top 10 for U.S. market share with 408,000 passenger embarkations, and Jacksonville, which only began serving as a cruise homeport in 2004, saw 147,000 embarkations in 2005 -- a 30 percent increase over its first year of operation.
"The Sunshine State embraces the relationship we have shared for decades with the cruise industry," said Governor Jeb Bush. "The contributions the cruise industry has made in our state have added significantly to our state's economy, and ensuring its ongoing growth will ever-enhance our recognition as a preeminent tourism destination."
The state also leads the country as a source market for cruise passengers with 2.1 million Florida residents taking a cruise in 2005. However, more than twice that many passengers - nearly 4.8 million - came to Florida to embark on a cruise vacation, making the cruise industry a significant contributor to the state's overall tourism economy.
Florida also is distinguished from other states by the fact that a majority of North American cruise lines are based there. Carnival Corporation & plc and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. - which, combined, account for 75 percent of North American cruise capacity - along with Norwegian Cruise Line are all based in Miami. Several smaller lines also are headquartered in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and overall, cruise line administrative operations account for 15,000 jobs in Florida, or more than half of all cruise line shoreside employment in the United States.
The concentration of cruise line administration and operations in Florida created $5.5 billion in direct expenditures in the state, or nearly 34 percent of cruise line spending nationwide. Such tourism-related businesses as travel agencies, airlines, hotels, restaurants and ground transportation providers were the main beneficiaries of the cruise business, receiving $2.5 billion, or 45 percent, of the industry's direct expenditures in Florida.
Another $915 million was spent primarily with food processors, ship repair companies, advertising agencies, management and technical consulting companies and employment agencies. Due to the sheer scale of the cruise industry's operations in Florida, its spending touched nearly every segment of the state's economy, from recreation and amusement establishments to manufacturers, interior designers and computer services consultants.
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.
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