You may see the ships. They’re in nearly each port within the Caribbean, bringing 1000’s of passengers to their shores.
However what’s not all the time clear is how a lot cash these passengers are literally spending within the Caribbean. However a brand new report from the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Affiliation sheds important mild on that query.
And one nation stands out: The Bahamas, the clear chief in cruise tourism expenditures within the wider area, with a complete of $654.9 million within the 2023-2024 cruise tourism season.
However what about everybody else?
In response to the report, the next-biggest beneficiary was Cozumel in Mexico at $483.1 million, the US Virgin Islands at $258.1 million; the Dominican Republic, with a complete of $251.4 million, adopted by St Maarten at $237.8 million and Puerto Rico at $201.9 million.
The numbers had been revealed to Caribbean Journal in a report known as Financial Contribution of Cruise Tourism to the Vacation spot Economies, which confirmed a complete of $4.27 billion within the wider area final season in cruise tourism expenditures — 27 % larger than the file set within the earlier examine again in 2018.
“We couldn’t be prouder of those outcomes and what they imply for the lives and livelihoods of so many all through the Caribbean and Latin America,” mentioned Michele Paige, CEO, FCCA. “Along with displaying what cruise tourism brings to those locations’ economies, most of the examine’s findings can even function the muse of constructing additional mutual success between cruise traces and vacation spot stakeholders.”
So what else did the examine reveal?
Common spend per passenger rose for 26 of 31 member locations within the Caribbean, with 14 locations displaying common spend charges of over $100 per passenger.
General, 33.3 million passenger and crew visited the Caribbean final season, a 13 % enhance in comparison with the earlier examine.
