Cruise lines generate jobs,
billions in economic impact
By: Lisette Hilton
October 30, 2000
Source: The
Business Journal
South Florida businesses have mixed reviews about
how the cruise industry affects them. Nearly 45,000 people from Miami-Dade
County have jobs thanks to the Port of Miami, which is recognized as
the cruise capital of the world. Port officials estimate that the economic
impact to the area is $8.7 billion, which includes hotel, cargo and
nonairport transportation businesses.
Of the approximately three million cruise passengers
who take cruises out of Port of Miami each year, nearly 80 percent
fly into Miami International Airport, according to airport spokesman
Marc Henderson.
Nearly 35 percent of Jose Beguiristain's business
is cruise-related. Beguiristain, president and owner of B-line Apparel,
a Miami-based wholesaler and manufacturer of apparel, produces large
runs of T-shirts, caps and high-end polo shirts for passengers and
staff of Norwegian Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity
Cruises and others. The bigger ships and increasing passengers to
the Port have resulted in a 25 percent increase in B-line's cruise-related
business in the past seven years, according to Beguiristain.
Cruises represent the only "real"
industry in South Florida, said Frank Demery, president of Genesis
Marine Enterprises in Miami. "This is the biggest one as far
as I am concerned. It has helped, tremendously, a lot of small businesses
like mine."
Genesis supplies the cruise lines with hotel
supplies, engine parts and provides refurbishing services. Demery
said 85 percent of his business comes from cruise lines and has grown
from three employees to 15 since it began servicing Royal Caribbean
in 1969.
"Usually, the ships come in on Saturday
and Sunday, as well as holidays, and many times they need something
urgently. That's where we come in and help them," he said.
But does the business trickle down and up from
the ports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale to South Florida's hot spots,
like Miami Beach?
Kevin Crowder, economic development division
director for the City of Miami Beach, said about 4.5 of the people
who stay in Miami Beach hotels are here for a cruise. Last year that
figure amounted to some 166,000 visitors.
While Crowder doesn't have impact statistics
for people who don't stay in local hotels, he said that the city had
a pilot program that indicated some of those cruise passengers who
wander around the beach end up extending their stays.
"We do know that there are cruise passengers
who get out of the port in the morning and don't leave for five, six,
seven hours. We have had instances where they've called back, had
their luggage removed and checked into the beaches on their own,"
he said.
Across the street from Port Everglades, Scott
Bettua thinks the cruise lines could be doing more for the local economy.
Bettua owns Adam and Eve Florist on Southeast 17th Street, delivering
floral arrangements to ship passengers.
But Bettua says that less than 10 percent of
his business is cruise-related. Standing in his way, he claims, are
the cruise lines themselves. Celebrity and Holland America lines charge
him $5 for each time he delivers an arrangement to their ships. That's
an extra $5 that he passes on to his clients.
"We do get some customers, but not when
you talk about how many people fit on a ship - about 2,500 people.
You have eight ships in port that's 20,000-some people. If you
have three people that come into your store, that's a small amount
considering how many are in the area," he said.
"The cruise industry doesn't do anything
to promote businesses on their same street or same area where people
could walk to," Bettua continues. "A lot get off a plane
in Fort Lauderdale, go right to the cruise ship and then leave. It's
not a huge impact. The personnel on the boat bring more to the community.
"We have a lot of guys that work on the
cruise ships sending flowers to their girlfriends and mom."
