A recent study from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) found that cruise lines, passengers, and crew spent a record $21.69 billion in the U.S. in 2016. That number is up 15 percent from 2011.
The 2016 Economic Impact Analysis was an independent study commissioned by CLIA and conducted by Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA). The findings show that the global cruise industry contributed a record $47.76 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016, up 3.6 percent from 2014. This includes creating more than 389,000 jobs and paying more than $20.5 billion in wages and salaries.
Contributions include spending by cruise lines and passengers, including food and beverages, fuel, financial and business services and entertainment in support of cruise operations, as well as the goods and services purchased by the directly impacted businesses and employees.
According to CLIA’s study, 11.66 million cruise passengers worldwide embarked from U.S. ports in 2016, setting a new high and growing 5.4 percent since 2014.
The top ten U.S. cruise ports accounted for 87.2 percent of 2016 embarkations with Florida handling nearly 61 percent of embankments with 7.08 million people.
Additionally, embarkations from California’s ports (Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego and San Francisco) increased 5.5 percent since 2014 to 1.06 million, with an increased number of embarkations from Long Beach accounting for 57 percent of California’s total growth.
The top 10 ports include Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades, Galveston, Long Beach, New Orleans, New York, Seattle, Tampa, and Los Angeles.
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