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ICCL News Release Archives
CRUISE INDUSTRY ECONOMIC IMPACT EXCEEDS $5 BILLION IN FLORIDA
(ARLINGTON, Va.) Sept. 1, 2005 -- The cruise industry had a total economic impact of $5.16 billion on Florida's economy in 2004 and supported over 129,000 jobs paying $4.5 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 beneficiary of more than 35 percent of direct cruise industry spending and 41 percent of national employment impact in the United States last year.
Florida ports embarked a total of more than 4.7 million passengers in 2004 - 58 percent of all U.S. embarkations. The Port of Miami remains the busiest cruise port in the United States and Florida, boarding nearly 1.7 million passengers last year, followed closely by Port Everglades at 1.3 million and Port Canaveral at 1.2 million. Tampa also ranked in the top ten for U.S. market share with 385,000 passenger embarkations, and Jacksonville, one of the industry's newest cruise ports, saw 113,000 embarkations in 2004.
"The International Council of Cruise Lines survey highlights the impressive success the cruise industry has met when operating from Florida," said Gov. Jeb Bush. "The cruise industry is an integral component of our robust tourism sector, and we thank the various cruise lines for their tremendous contributions to our economy and international recognition. We warmly welcome these vessels and their guests back, always and often, to the ports of the Sunshine State."
The state also leads the country as a source market for cruise passengers with 1.5 million Florida residents taking a cruise from one of the state's five homeports in 2004. However, more than twice that many passengers - 3.2 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 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 17,000 jobs in Florida, or more than 55 percent of total cruise line shoreside employment in the United States.
The concentration of cruise line administration and operations in Florida created $5.16 billion in direct expenditures in the state, or 35 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 billion, or 40 percent, of the industry's direct expenditures in Florida.
Another $1 billion was spent primarily with food processors, ship repair companies, advertising agencies, engineering 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.
Those direct expenditures generated a total economic impact of more than 129,000 jobs and $4.5 billion in income throughout the Florida economy in 2004.
Nationwide, the North American cruise industry had a total impact of more than $30 billion on the U.S. economy in 2004, an increase of more than 18 percent over 2003. The BREA study also found that the cruise industry supported nearly 316,000 U.S. jobs and paid a total of more than $12.4 billion in wages and salaries in 2004.
The complete economic study can be found on the ICCL Web site at www.iccl.org.
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