An independent report commissioned by CLIA from Business Research and Economic Advisers (BREA), The Contribution of the North American Cruise Industry to the U.S. Economy in 2013, has found that total contributions of the cruise industry to the U.S. economy reached a record $44.1 billion last yrear.
“The cruise industry supported 363,133 U.S. jobs, in every state, paying wages of $18.3 billion. Nearly 10 million cruise passengers embarked at U.S. ports, representing 57% of the North American cruise industry’s global embarkations,” the report said. U.S.-based direct spending by cruise lines, passengers, and crew totaled $20.1 billion, nearly double expenditures made in 2000. Nearly 70% of the cruise industry’s non-wage expenditures were made with U.S.-based businesses
The BREA study found that the positive impacts of the cruise industry are found in every state, ranging from 3,227 jobs and $138 million in direct purchases in Missouri, to more than 140,400 jobs and over $7.3 billion in direct purchases in Florida.
The top 10 U.S. cruise ports accounted for 86 percent of embarkations. Florida remains the center of cruising in the United States, with its five cruise ports accounting for nearly 62 percent of all U.S. embarkations in 2013. California, Texas, and New York each had more than 600,000 embarkations.
