What’s In This Issue:
- From the Bridge – It's not Too Late to Join in on The World's Largest Cruise Night !
- Cruising in the News –
- Cruise Industry contributed $30 billion to U.S. economy in 2004...New passport guidelines...San Francisco cruise guest totals create excitement.
- We Thought You Should Know –– Port Everglades launches new Web site.
September 2005
From The Bridge
Greetings!
It's amazing how quickly time passes. September is nearly over and the fall, in so many ways a season of change, is officially here. Children have been back in school for weeks and hopefully you've put away your white clothes until the spring!The change that accompanies autumn's arrival is also evident in the cruise retail marketplace. For the first time, CLIA-member travel agencies will celebrate National Cruise Vacation Month (NCVM) in October.
As I'm sure you know, CLIA moved NCVM, our signature cruise promotional campaign previously held in February, to October to give agencies a strong hook to aggressively market winter cruise vacations as the weather turns colder in the Eastern U.S. The new October NCVM also serves as a reminder to cruise vacationers to book early to ensure the best stateroom and itinerary selections for the busy winter season.
The highlight of NCVM will be the “World's Largest Cruise Night” (WLCN), which is shaping up to be a history-making event. For the first time, travel agencies across North America will join together to host Cruise Nights, cocktail parties, luncheons and a myriad of cruise promotional events – all on Oct. 19 .
To date, more than 225 CLIA-member travel agencies plan to host WLCN cruise events. That number is expected to grow over the next several weeks, and thus far more than 200,000 consumers across North America have been invited to attend WLCN events and learn all about the pleasures of the cruise lifestyle.
It's still not too late for your agency to participate in this one-of-a-kind promotion. By signing on to host a WLCN event, your agency will ride a wave of promotional power. With hundreds of cruise events occurring on a single day, WLCN will attract widespread media attention, translate into increased consumer awareness of cruising and drive sales for your agency . Also, consumers can use the World's Largest Cruise Night Locator on the home page of CLIA's Web site to locate WLCN events – including yours - in their area.
You can register your agency's WLCN event in the Travel Agent center of CLIA's Web site ( www.cruising.org ). The site also features tips, hints and resources to help make your event a success. Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind opportunity to make waves as the cruise expert in your community!
One final area I'd like to discuss with you is CLIA's online training. Simply put, our Internet-based training courses not only offer all the industry's highest-level cruise sales and product knowledge available anywhere in travel, but the online format allows agency professionals to complete their mandatory and elective Certification course requirements and attain CLIA Cruise Counsellor Certification in the most convenient manner possible.
Agents who attain Certification report an average 235% increase in sales productivity, making an investment in CLIA Certification a winning proposition. Also, effective October 1 and continuing through November 15, CLIA is offering an online training special under which agents can register for two training seminars for $25, a 50% savings, or five for $5 for $85. The five for $85 offer includes five bonus Certification credits. Please refer to the Travel Agent Center on CLIA's Web site for more details.
Education is a gift that lasts a lifetime – take the first steps toward continuing your CLIA training today. Also, if you haven't already, make plans to host a WLCN event. I am confident that you will find it's time well spent.
Bon Voyage!
Terry L. Dale
President & CEO
CLIA
Cruise Industry's Contribution to U.S. Economy Grew 18% in 2004
The cruise industry produced more positive news in 2004. According a recent report from the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), the North American cruise industry had a total impact of more than $30 billion on the United States economy in 2004, an 18% increase over 2003.
The study, completed for ICCL by Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA) found the cruise industry supported nearly 316,000 jobs nationwide and paid a total of more than $12.4 billion in wages and salaries in 2004.
The report also found that cruise lines, their passengers and crew were responsible for a total of $14.7 billion in direct economic impact in 2004, nearly $2 billion more than in 2003. These expenditures supported 135,000 U.S. jobs paying $4.8 billion in wage and salaries.
The study found that the 10 largest cruise embarkation ports – Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, New York, Los Angeles, Galveston, Texas; Tampa, Fla.; Long Beach, Calif., New Orleans and Seattle – accounted for 87% of all U.S. passenger embarkations. BREA attributed lower embarkation numbers in Miami and Tampa to cruise capacity redeployment to growing cruise ports including San Diego (which experienced a 113%increase) and Seattle (80% increase).
While the cruise industry's economic impact was felt in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 81% was concentrated in 10 states: Florida, California, New York, Alaska, Texas, Washington, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado and Hawaii. The three states with no cruise port – Georgia, Illinois and Colorado – are significant passenger source markets and also provide vendor support for cruise and tour operations.
The complete economic study can be found on the ICCL Web site at www.iccl.org .
New Passport Requirements Outlined Under Federal WHTIBy January 1, 2008, all U.S. citizens will be required to have a passport for travel within the Western Hemisphere. The Departments of State and Homeland Security earlier this year proposed a phase-in program known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).
The program originally recommended three separate deadlines for U.S. citizens to obtain a passport depending on the region of the Western Hemisphere to which they were traveling. The government has now modified the original timeline to establish the following requirements for U.S. citizens:
- December 31, 2006 – Passport or other accepted document required for all air or sea travel within the Western Hemisphere.
- December 31, 2007 – Passport or other accepted document required for all U.S. land and border crossings.
By establishing the new requirements, the government has eliminated the previous December 2005 passport-requirement deadline for travel to the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central and South America.
All agency professionals should advise clients to obtain passports, without which they will soon be unable to travel - and cruise - outside of the U.S. Also, after the implementation date cruise vacationers who arrive at a U.S. port to embark on a cruise without a valid passport will not be allowed to board, even with a confirmed booking for travel abroad.
Agents should also know – and advise clients - that a passport can open the doors to travel they may not have previously considered, including cruises to Europe, Australia and Asia. Passports are valid for 10 years, making the cost is minimal ($97 for a new Passport and $67 for a renewal). For example, if your clients take two vacations per year, the initial cost of their passport per vacation is less than a frozen drink at the pool.
U. S. citizens can obtain a passport by visiting one of the 6,000 Passport acceptance facilities across the U.S. For more information about applying for a Passport, U.S. Citizens may visit http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html or call the National Passport Information Center toll free at 1-877-487-2778 or TDD/TYY: 1-888-874-7793. Foreign Nationals should contact their respective governments to obtain details regarding current Passports requirements and application procedures.
Cruise Growth Creates Excitement Around City by the BayThe Port of San Francisco is a big winner in the cruise industry's recent expansion into new North American home port cities. San Francisco's cruise passenger totals, along with its cruise departures and port calls, have more than doubled since 1998, and 2006 is shaping up to be the city's biggest year ever, with nearly one quarter of a million cruise guests expected pass through San Francisco.
San Francisco expects to host nearly 250,000 cruise passengers in 2006
In a recent interview, Gerard Roybal, the Port of San Francisco's Maritime Marketing Manager, said the port has quickly grown from one that attracted only a handful of cruise-ship calls during a few months of the year in the late 1990s into a regional center that today offers extended Mexico cruise itineraries all 12 months of the year.
“The growth of our cruise business is big news for us,” said Roybal. “San Francisco has not had a passenger line sail from the port during all 12 months of the year since Matson Lines 35 years ago.” He added that although a few ships offer seven-day departures from San Francisco, the most popular itineraries are 11- and 12-day Mexico cruises, which draw vacationers from a broad regional market, including Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Southern California and even Western Canada. “I am wildly excited about the momentum building behind this,” he said.
San Francisco's swelling cruise numbers are strongly linked to cruising's “homeport” phenomenon. Growing numbers of vacationers are opting to drive rather than fly to their cruise departure port, and operators are placing more ships into major coastal cities like San Francisco.
The cities are in turn building, improving and expanding passenger facilities. As few as five years ago, said Roybal, 65% of tourists arrived in San Francisco via airplane, with the other 35% came via automobile. Incredibly, the opposite is true today: 65% of vacationers arrive by car and 35% via airplane.
“More people are comfortable traveling in their cars than in airplanes,” said Roybal. “Because San Francisco now offers regular cruise service, in addition to our world-class cultural attractions, people are driving from as far away as western Canada to sail from San Francisco.” Because the current generation of faster cruise ships can journey far south to reach popular Mexican Riviera ports, “[San Francisco] has become a jumping-off point for 10- and 11-day Mexico departures,” said Roybal.
San Francisco's cruise traffic grew so quickly, the port found itself scrambling to accommodate all of the new business, said Roybal. “It really overcame us. The rapid increase in cruise business forced us to take a renewed look at our historic passenger facilities, which were literally designed in the 1850s and 1870s for wooden ships. We have had to clean up our terminal to bring it into the 21 st Century, meaning up to Department of Homeland Security standards for safety and security. We have also improved the passenger flow and comfort, as well as luggage handling.”
We have formed a public/private partnership to build a larger, wider cruise facility that we expect will be up and running in five to six years. We are committed to trying to make the wheels turn faster to get to where we need to be.”
As its cruise traffic has grown, the Port of San Francisco has hosted successful cooperative marketing and training events for travel agents.
The Port is also working closely with the San Francisco Convention and Visitors' Bureau and local tourism organizations to emphasize that the surging drive-in cruise traffic means, in Roybal's words, “This is bigger than the Port. This needs to be a citywide campaign. That is why it's so important for the port to work with travel agents and the city.”
New Web Site for Port Everglades
Port Everglades recently launched a new web site at http://www.broward.org/port/cruise.htm . The new site features a “Cruise” link detailing the continued growth of the industry's second-largest cruise port.
For example, cruise passenger totals at Port Everglades have grown by 12% annually over the last decade, and cruise now represents the port's primary revenue stream.
In all, 4 million cruise vacationers embarked and disembarked through Port Everglades in 2004, and an average of 3,000 cruise voyages depart from the facility annually. By 2020, seven million annual cruise guests are expected to pass through Port Everglades.
