A Global Player

On Average, a 2000-passenger cruise ship with 950 crew members generates $240,000 during a U.S. port-of-call visit.

By its nature, cruising is an enterprise that links the world. Cruise ships call at ports on every continent; their passengers and crews comprise people from every part of the world; and the industry benefits hundred of countries and their citizens.

One of the traditional appeals of a cruise is the opportunity it provides to visit several destinations in one excellent vacation experience. Frequent cruisers especially applaud cruises as a way to try out a new vacation area to which they might want to return. In 2003, more than 9.5 million global passengers enjoy a cruise vacation.

• Visits by cruise ships generate hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business to attractions, restaurants, retail shops, shore tour operators and other businesses at ports of call. A recent Business Research and Economic Advisors study found that the average cruise passenger spends almost $112 at each port of call visited in the United States.

• In addition to local port user fees, head taxes and surcharges, cruise ships purchase supplies and services such as pilots, tugboats, waste disposal services, fuel and fresh water at port of call worldwide.

• Cruise Lines employ more than 100,000 shipboard crew, and these individuals also contribute to the economies of the ports they visit.

• Many passengers express an interest in returning to the ports of call they visit by ship. According to CLIA, the mos likely number of persons expected to cruise over the next three years is 30 million.