A Global and Dynamic Industry

Cruise lines, their passengers and crew spent a record $21 billion in the U.S. in 2014, up 16 percent since 2010 and representing a new peak in U.S. cruise industry expenditures, according to a new study from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the largest cruise industry trade association and the leading authority of the global cruise community.

CLIA’s 2014 Economic Impact Analysis, an independent study commissioned by CLIA and conducted by Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA), shows that total contributions of the global cruise industry to the U.S. economy reached a record $46.09 billion in 2014, up 4.5 percent from the previous year. This includes generating 373,738 U.S. jobs paying more than $19 billion in wages and salaries.

«The global cruise industry is a critical contributor to the U.S. economy and we see evidence of the industry’s positive effect spreading across the country,» said Cindy D’Aoust, CLIA’s acting CEO. «In each of the 50 states, we saw cruise lines purchasing goods or services in support of their operations, and passengers traveling for their cruise vacations. The cruise industry is thriving and making an important economic contribution.»

CLIA’s study shows that globally, demand for cruising worldwide increased 68 percent in the last ten years, from 13.14 million passengers in 2004 to 22.04 million passengers in 2014. Since 2013, demand grew 3.4 percent. Globally, cruise industry expenditures generated $119.9 billion in total output, supporting 939,232 full-time equivalent employees who earned $39.3 billion in income.

«The cruise industry is truly a global and dynamic industry,» said D’Aoust. «We’ve enjoyed progressive growth over the last 30 years, driven initially by demand from North America, which expanded to Europe, Australia and now Asia. As a result, the cruise industry today impacts the global economy, generating jobs, income and business growth in all regions of the world.»