Cruising boosts US economy
A study commissioned by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) says that the North American cruise industry boosted the U.S. economy in 2011 by billions of dollars in revenue.
The study says direct purchases by CLIA’s 26 member lines and passengers totaled approximately $19 billion, resulting in $40.4 billion in total economic impact.
Cruise industry spending generated nearly 350,000 jobs which paid out $16.5 in wages to U.S. workers.
The report said:
* Total economic impact on the U.S. economy grew by 6.8 percent to $40.42 billion in 2011, with direct spending by the cruise industry growing by 4.8 percent to $18.9 billion; total employment grew by 5.4 percent to 347,787 and wages and salaries jumped by 8.3 percent in 2011.
* The North American cruise industry benefited every state economy through direct purchases of goods and services, with approximately 80 percent of the impact concentrated in ten states – Florida, California, New York, Texas, Alaska, Washington, Georgia, Massachusetts, Illinois and Colorado.
* Worldwide, 16.3 million people took cruise vacations on CLIA member lines in 2011, an increase of 10.1 percent over the previous year. U.S. cruise passengers totaled 10.4 million, or 63.5 percent.
* U.S. ports handled 60 percent of all global cruise embarkations, with 9.83 million passengers sailing from American ports, a 1.4 percent increase over 2010.
* The top ten U.S. cruise ports – Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, New York, Galveston, Tampa, Seattle, Long Beach, New Orleans, Los Angeles – accounted for nearly 86 percent of all U.S. embarkations.
Source: Cruising Lines International Association
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