MIAMI BEACH -- At the annual Seatrade Cruise Shipping Miami Convention, the floor teemed with displays from the shipyards that build vessels; the makers of ships parts like balcony doors and hand sanitizer dispensers; and providers of wine, tea, chocolate and even roast beef.
Seatrade, which drew 10,800 attendees, a 7% increase over 2009, offered ports the opportunity to show off their offerings and make headlines. Here is what some are doing:
• Chile was on hand to let the cruise industry know that despite the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked the South American country last month, its ports are open for business.
Reps from ProChile said that the country's two main cruise ports, Puerto Montt and Valparaiso, were unscathed by the earthquake. Cruisers were only affected by the closing of Santiago's airport, which shut for several days after the quake but is now operating normally.
In addition, the port reps said Chile would invest $400 million in port infrastructure through 2013, expanding the Port of Valparaiso and developing a new pier at Puerto Williams, among other projects. The plans come despite a downturn in cruise traffic; Chile received 30% fewer cruisers this year than last year, and expects similar numbers next year.
• The port of Copenhagen will build a 3,609-foot-long cruise ship quay capable of handling three large cruise ships at once, increasing the Danish capital's total daily ship capacity to eight vessels.
The city's cruise ship traffic grew 10% in 2009, to 335 ships and 528,000 arriving passengers. Cruise ship traffic to Copenhagen is expected to increase slightly this year, to about 530,000 arriving passengers.
The new quay will be in service by the 2013 season.
• Trujillo is expected to become Honduras' first mainland cruise port in 2012.
A cruise port named Banana Coast will be built in Honduras' oldest city, located on its northern, Caribbean coast.
Honduras will invest $20 million in Banana Coast Landing, a pier capable of accommodating two post-Panamax ships at once as well as a 50,000-square-foot shopping area, transportation hub and excursions marina.
• NY Cruise, a division of the New York City Economic Development Corp., found that overnight passengers in New York spent $245 per person for lodging and $72 for food and beverages in 2009, the highest in the country and almost double the national average for other U.S. port cities.
NY Cruise commissioned a 2009 Economic Impact Study of cruise passenger and onshore crew spending in the city, also finding that 42% of cruise passengers spent one or more nights there.
Passengers and crew spent an estimated $93.8 million in New York in 2009, or $174.18 per day.
Crew members reportedly spent an average of $270 while onshore, the highest total among U.S. ports and more than twice the national average.