A new study estimates the economic impact of the cruise-ship industry in Canada to be $2.4 billion, with B.C. by far the biggest benefactor.
According to the Northwest and Canada Cruise Association (NWCCA) study, 1,100 cruise-ship calls at Canadian ports generate $2.38 billion in economic impacts annually.
“Cruise passengers and the business they bring are an important part of the Canadian tourism mix,” said Paul Nursey, vice-president of corporate communications for the Canadian Tourism Commission.
“We see very high customer satisfaction ratings and high repeat visitation, so cruise passengers get a great introduction to Canada and communities get to add important business diversity.”
The study calculates that two million cruise passenger visits generated $1.16 billion in direct spending and generated 9,849 annualized full- and part-time jobs.
British Columbia gets the lion’s share of Canada’s cruise-ship business. With 1.177 million passengers in 2012, it had 57% of the Canadian market.
Atlantic ports received 643,000 cruise passengers in 2012 – 31% of Canadian traffic. Quebec received 230,000 passengers, or 12%.
Much of B.C.’s cruise-ship traffic comes from Alaskan cruises originating in Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco. Victoria, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo ports also receive a share of the traffic.
