A Trend that Demands Attention

Relative to 2011, New York experienced a 4.0 percent decrease in passenger embarkations and a 1.3% decrease in the number of resident cruise passengers. As a result, New York’s share of passenger embarkations fell by almost a half of a percentage point in 2012, while its share of resident cruise passengers declined by one-tenth of a percentage point.

Including homeport and transit calls, cruising at New York ports generated an estimated 857,000 passenger and crew visits, accounting for 3.9 % of all passenger and crew visits in the United States. This was a 4.4 percent decrease from 2011. These visits produced an estimated $153 million in passenger and crew onshore spending, or just over $178 per visit. Passenger and crew spending declined by 3.7% from 2011.

With the decline in visits in New York and the strong increase in Texas, New York’s state ranking fell from third in 2011 to fourth in cruise industry direct expenditures with just under $1.24 billion, or 6.3% of the direct expenditures generated by the cruise industry in the United States. Direct cruise industry expenditures in the state decreased by 1.1% from 2011.