By
Adam Lawrence |
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that the city earned US$239 million from the cruise industry in 2011, a new record.
The city’s 2011 Economic Impact Study detailed an increase of nearly 50,000 passengers over 2010, to more 632,000 combined embarking and transit passengers in 2011. These passengers, along with crew, spent approximately US$149.8 million in the city. Overall, the study showed significant growth in all sectors of the city’s cruise industry with an 11 per cent increase in ship calls, a nine per cent increase in passengers, and a three per cent increase in spending over the previous year.
“The millions of tourists who visit New York City each year come here by plane, train, automobile and, increasingly, cruise ship,” said Bloomberg. “This report is more proof that the investments we’ve made and the work we’ve done to support the cruise industry are now paying off. Our record number of 50.5 million visitors in 2011 shows that there has never been a more exciting time to visit New York City, and that’s great news for our economy. The cruise industry produces jobs and spending that are vital to our continued economic growth.”
“The growing success of the cruise industry in New York is evidence of the impact of two of Mayor Bloomberg’s signature policy initiatives: encouraging tourism and reconnecting New Yorkers to our waterfront,” said Robert Steel, the city’s deputy mayor for economic development. “With a record number of tourists visiting and our water as clean as it’s been in a century, we are confident that the cruise industry will continue to thrive in New York.”
Spending was broken out into three categories: embarking passengers, who began their cruise in New York, transit passengers, who took cruises that stopped in the city, and crew. Embarking passengers were the largest spenders with an estimated US$121.9 million in direct spending, followed by on shore crew spending at US$23.9 million, and transit passenger spending at US$4 million. The largest spending categories for embarking passengers were hotel accommodation at over US$61.8 million and food and beverages at more than US$17.2 million.
The majority of cruise passengers continue to come from outside the city. These passengers often do pre or post-cruise stays at a New York hotel, leading to the highest average spending per passenger at US$442 during a two night stay. NYCEDC is projecting the numbers of passengers and ship calls to remain at all-time high levels, with an expected 634,000 combined embarking and transit passengers and 260 ship calls in 2012.