The cruise industry stepped up its spending
in 2004 in Hawaii and Colorado, according to data collected by the
International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL).
The two states
broke into the top 10 states that benefit the most from cruising.
The industry spent $407 million on direct purchases in Colorado,
and $336 million on purchases in Hawaii.
Spending in both
states jumped about 127% year-over-year.
The five states
that benefitted the most remained unchanged year-over-year:
Florida, California, New York, Alaska and Texas.
Washington, Georgia
and Illinois rounded out the top 10. Massachusetts and
Pennsylvania, which were ranked ninth and 10th in the study in
2003, dropped to 11th and 12th in 2004.
The top 10 states
accounted for 81% of direct expenditures of the cruise industry,
ICCL said.
With the deployment
of U.S.-flagged cruise ships in Hawaii by NCL America, the state
has been the fastest growing cruise destination market in the U.S.,
the ICCL said. Some 55,000 passenger visits at Hawaiian ports of
call accounted for more than 13% of all port-of-call visits at U.S. ports.
And, because the
NCL Americas crew is made up of U.S. residents, the industrys
direct employment in Hawaii exceeds 1,100 employees.
Tourism-related
businesses such as tour operators, airlines and hotels received
about $272 million, a little more than 80% of the industrys direct
expenditures in Hawaii.
The ICCL said
approximately $250 million was spent in Colorado last year on
petroleum and chemical refineries, railroad equipment, accounting
and consulting firms, social and scientific research and
advertising and direct mail.
Not surprisingly,
the industry made the most direct purchases, $5.16 billion, in
Florida, which represents 35% of all U.S. purchases made by the
cruise industry.
According to the
ICCL, more than 4.7 million passengers, or nearly 60% of cruise
embarkations, boarded in one of Floridas five main cruise
ports.
Nearly 41% of the
U.S. wage impact also was recorded in Florida because the three
largest cruise companies (Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises
and NCL Corp.), along with several smaller luxury and niche brands
and other businesses related to cruise tourism, are headquartered
in the state.
On the opposite end
of the scale, the five states that recorded the least amount of
purchases in 2004 were South Dakota, West Virginia, Montana, North
Dakota and Wyoming.