PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., Sept. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -
Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association's (FCCA) annual keynote event, the
Conference & Trade Show, has a 20-year history of increasing cruise
tourism's impact for its host destinations by spotlighting their
products, experiences and infrastructure to the industry's most
influential decision makers—over 100 executives, presidents and CEOs
from FCCA's 15 Member Lines, which operate over 100 ships in Caribbean
and Latin American waters.
St. Maarten is looking to build onto their past growth by hosting
their second FCCA Conference & Trade Show from October 6 – 10. The
destination knows the significance of hosting this event because of
their progress after their first Conference in 2003. In 2001, St.
Maarten Harbour Group of Companies reported 875,540 passenger arrivals.
This number rose 70 percent to 1,490,386 in 2005, just two years after
hosting the Conference.
As the destination knows, these numbers extend far beyond the cruise
pier; they impact the entire economy. According to the Business Research
& Economic Advisors (BREA) 2012 study,
Economic Contribution of Cruise Tourism to the Destination Economies,
the average expenditure per passenger in St. Maarten was $185.40, which
benefitted numerous industries through purchases of goods that included
food and beverage at restaurants and bars, clothing, shore excursions,
ground transportation, local crafts and souvenirs, watches and jewelry,
perfumes and cosmetics, electronics, entertainment/night clubs/casinos,
retail purchases of liquor, and telephone and internet.
However, this is hardly the only economic contribution provided by
cruise tourism. The same study showed that the average expenditure per
crew in St. Maarten was $135.50 for similar products and services. Plus
it revealed the direct and indirect employment generated by the cruise
industry, totaling 8,123 jobs and $159.8 million in employee wages.
By these numbers, St. Maarten's 70 percent increase after hosting
their first Conference would represent an increase of $114 million in
passenger spending alone, along with the coinciding growth of crew
spending, cruise line spending, and employment.
Projecting this same growth after this year's Conference would be
aggressive, considering that in 2014 St. Maarten expects 1.67 million
passenger arrivals onboard 523 vessels from FCCA Member Lines alone. But
a single cruise ship has a large economic wake. BREA's figures show
that just one average cruise vessel—130,000 GRT, 1,040 feet long,
carrying 3,000 passengers and 500 crewmembers—would generate $556,200 in
passenger spending and $67,750 in crew spending, along with roughly
$15,000 in port fees, totaling $638,950 in direct economic contribution,
not including employment and other indirect contributions.
Projecting a more conservative growth rate of 20 percent, or 105
additional cruise ship calls, would mean an extra $67 million per year
directly contributed to St. Maarten's economy. Plus a 20 percent
increase in cruise tourism-impacted employment would represent 1,625
more jobs with $32 million in wages.
Considering this potential economic impact, it becomes easy to
understand why St. Maarten again decided to invest in its entire
destination's economy by hosting the FCCA Conference & Trade Show.