The cruise industry contributes 413.2 million euros a year to the GDP of Catalonia
Cruise ship activity in the port of Barcelona generates a total turnover of 796 million euros and contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Catalonia with 413.2 million euros a year. This is reflected by a study commissioned by the Port Authority of Barcelona last February to the University of Barcelona and conducted by the Laboratory of Applied Economics AQR-Lab of the same university, in collaboration with Barcelona Tourism. As explained by the president of the Barcelona enclave, Sixte Cambra, in the presentation of this document, “this study has been carried out to study the real impact of cruises on the Catalan economy”.
The report in question reveals that direct expenditure arising from the cruise activity amounts to 442.5 million euros a year, of which 121.2 million come from the cruise lines, 315.8 million from the cruise passengers and 5.5 million from the crew visiting the city of Barcelona in their free time. Meanwhile, it has been shown that the cruise industry has a significant impact on the labour market. Thus, this activity has helped maintain 6,759 jobs. Likewise it also generates 152 million euros in state and regional taxes, as well as through the tourist tax. In this sense, Sixte Cambra emphasized that this study contributes to “assessing the true economic and social dimension of traffic that in recent years has become very important as a source of investment, employment and economic activity”.
On the other hand, the study also shows the investment and future opportunities for the cruise industry in Catalonia. Thus, in the period between 2000 and 2014, 109 million euros were invested in infrastructure related to this activity, 86% of which comes from the private sector and 20% from abroad. Also, most of the major cruise lines have moved their headquarters to Barcelona, given its status as a home port for cruise ships. Finally, we have also taken into account the business opportunities entailed in meeting the needs and demands of cruise passengers. Regarding the future, the president of the port of Barcelona, Sixte Cambra, has said that “the strategy of the enclave remains to encourage the loyalty of cruise lines, because the greater the number of home ports, the greater the economic impact and this is an activity that brings stability”.
The main beneficiary of this business is the Catalan capital, above all because 75% of the total effect of cruise ships stays in the city, accounting for 313.4 million euros of contribution to GDP and 5,039 jobs. As for the daily income from this activity, it is estimated that the arrival of cruise ships at the port of Barcelona involves a daily turnover of 2.2 million euros in Catalonia, 1.7 million of which stay in the city of Barcelona. Meanwhile, one of the points reflected by the study is the positive effects of this activity to other sectors of the Catalan economy in terms of job creation. Thus, out of the total number of jobs created by the cruise industry, 2,764 of them belong to sectors such as logistics, food manufacturing, metallurgy industry, chemical industry, etc.
Source: El Vigia
Photo: Mark_M/ flickr
