Cruise Industry Contributes $30 Billion!

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I received this press release from The International Council of Cruise
Lines (ICCL) and thought it would be of interest. If you have missed
any of my news' postings, they are available on my web site.

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Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
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CRUISE INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTED $30 BILLION TO U.S. ECONOMY IN 2004

ARLINGTON, Va. Sept. 1, 2005
The North American cruise industry had a total impact of more than $30
billion on the United States’ economy in 2004, an increase of more
than 18 percent over 2003. In an annual study commissioned by the
International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), Business Research and
Economic Advisors (BREA) found that 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.

“Despite an ongoing war in Iraq and consumer uncertainty about the
economy last year, the cruise industry continued to grow, spending a
significant amount of money in the United States and supporting a lot
of jobs,” said ICCL President Michael Crye. “The spending is not just
in seaport cities either; virtually every business sector and every
single state — from Alabama to Wyoming — benefited from cruise line
expenditures.”

Cruise lines, their passengers and crew were responsible for a total
of $14.7 billion in direct economic impacts last year — nearly $2
billion more than in 2003. BREA attributed much of that increase to a
rise in U.S. passenger embarkations of nearly 14 percent, to 8.1
million. These direct expenditures supported 135,000 jobs paying $4.8
billion in wages and salaries.

The study noted that direct economic benefits to the U.S. economy
arose from five principal sources:

• Spending by cruise passengers and crew for goods and services
associated with a cruise, including travel to the port of embarkation
and pre- and post-cruise vacations;

• Shoreside staffing by cruise lines for U.S.-based headquarters,
marketing and tour operations;

• Purchase of goods and services necessary for cruise operations,
including food and beverages, fuel, hotel supplies and equipment,
navigation and communication equipment, etc.;

• Payments for port services at U.S. homeports and ports-of-call; and

• Maintenance and repair of cruise ships at U.S. shipyards and capital
expenditures for port terminals, office facilities and other capital
equipment.

Cruise line operational expenditures for wages, taxes and goods and
services accounted for approximately 80 percent of direct spending,
while passenger and crew spending on transportation, accommodations,
food and other retail accounted for the remaining 20 percent.

Indirect economic impacts included expenditures by cruise line vendors
and businesses that supply goods and services to passengers and crew.
For example, food processors purchase raw foodstuffs, utilities such
as electricity and water to run equipment and process raw materials,
transportation services to deliver finished products to cruise lines
or wholesalers and insurance for property and employees.

According to the study, the United States is the primary beneficiary
of the cruise industry’s global economic impact with more than 75
percent of the North American cruise industry’s expenditures made with
U.S.-based businesses. In 2004, cruise lines spent $7.2 billion for
goods and services from U.S. suppliers, supporting 42,350 jobs in
virtually every industry and generating $1.7 billion in wage income.

With the addition of eight new cruise ships, growth of the North
American fleet remained comparable to 2003. However, the new, larger
vessels accounted for nearly 25,000 additional berths (single beds),
an 11.6 percent increase in capacity growth – well above the
industry’s average 8 percent long-term growth trend over the past
decade. In spite of this growth in capacity, the industry was able to
increase its passenger carryings and occupancy rate.

U.S. ports and port cities were major beneficiaries of cruise line
growth. With 8.1 million embarkations in 2004, U.S. ports accounted
for 75 percent of the 10.85 million total worldwide passenger
embarkations.

The top 10 cruise embarkation ports – Miami, Port Everglades, Port
Canaveral, New York, Los Angeles, Galveston, Tampa, Long Beach, New
Orleans and Seattle – accounted for 87 percent of all U.S. passenger
embarkations. BREA attributed lower embarkation numbers in 2004 for
Miami (-14 percent) and Tampa (-6 percent) to capacity redeployment to
emerging cruise ports like Jacksonville and Mobile, and increased
sailings from mid-size ports such as San Diego (+113 percent) and
Seattle (+ 80 percent).

While the industry’s economic impact was felt in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia, 81 percent was concentrated in 10 states:
Florida, California, New York, Alaska, Texas, Washington, Georgia,
Illinois, Colorado and Hawaii. Florida, of course, has more homeports
than any other state; Alaska is primarily a port-of-call destination;
Hawaii serves as both a homeport and port-of -call market, and the
three states with no cruise ports — Georgia, Illinois and Colorado —
served as significant passenger source markets and provided vendor
support for cruise and tour operations.

The complete economic study can be found on the ICCL Web site at
www.iccl.org. Additional news releases are available for Florida,
California, New York, Alaska, Texas, Washington, Illinois, Hawaii,
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

About the ICCL: The International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL)
represents the interests of 16 passenger cruise lines that call on
major ports in the United States and abroad. ICCL member lines
include: Carnival Cruise Lines; Celebrity Cruises; Costa Cruise Line
N.V.; Crystal Cruises; Cunard Line; Disney Cruise Line; Holland
America Line; NCL America; Norwegian Cruise Line; Orient Lines;
Princess Cruises; Radisson Seven Seas Cruises; Royal Caribbean
International; Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises; and Windstar
Cruises. These vessels account for approximately 90% of the North
American passenger cruise line industry.