While stories abound about the tidal wave of cargo moving through America’s ports, a similar story is unfolding in the cruise industry, which last year saw 9 million U.S. passenger embarkations, a 4.5 percent increase over 2006, and $35.7 billion in total economic impacts, a 10 percent increase.
Published: February, 2008
To assist cruise ports in preparing for the challenges ahead, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) will hold its 10th annual Cruise Seminar February 5-7 in San Francisco.
As the number of people taking cruise vacations continues to rise, so do the challenges that the cruise lines and our member ports face in serving this important market, said Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO. The amount of money spent on cruise vacations in this country alone represents a hefty contribution to our annual economy. In 2006, for example, the cruise industry generated some 348,000 U.S. jobs that paid $14.7 billion in wages.
More than 60 percent of AAPA’s 160 member ports in the Western Hemisphere have cruise operations. To assist, AAPA works with various cruise associations, federal government agencies and both houses of Congress to help its members on issues such as cruise passenger travel documentation, passenger vessel accessibility guidelines, passenger inspection requirements and federal inspection service facility requirements at U.S. ports. AAPA also works on a variety of national and international environmental issues pertaining to the cruise industry, ranging from air emissions reductions to ballast water management.
