Study: Cruisers brought up to $8M to Portland area
Cruise ship passengers generated between $5.8 million and $8 million for the Portland area economy in 2008, according to a University of Maine study released yesterday.
Passenger spending supported 69 to 96 full- and part-time jobs and provided between $2 million and $3.2 million in wages and salaries last year, the study found. The average cruise ship passenger who stopped in the city spent about $81 to $110 in the area during a one-day visit, mostly on food and beverages and apparel. Visitors tended to be older, affluent veteran cruisers, and 75% of them had never visited Portland before, according to the study's authors, UMaine economists Todd Gabe and James McConnon.
The spending estimates both include and exclude cruise-line sponsored tours, which accounts for the range of economic impacts reported. It was conducted during several large cruise ship visits last September and October and results were drawn from surveys of nearly 1,300 passengers. The city of Portland requested and funded the study.
Also released Wednesday was a report by Cruise Lines International Association, which found that the North American cruise line industry contributed $29 million in direct spending to Maine's economy last year, a 20% increase over 2007, according to a press release. The group did not break results down by city.
Bar Harbor is Maine's busiest cruise destination, and welcomed 96 ships carrying about 140,000 passengers in 2008. Portland hosted an estimated 47,841 passengers from 32 ships last year. This season, which kicked off Wednesday, the city expects 45 ships carrying nearly 70,000 passengers.
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