July 30, 2009

Cruise ship's arrival launches busy year

The first of 45 scheduled visits to Portland comes as a UMaine team provides numbers on the economic impact.

By TOM BELL, Staff Writer

John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

The American Glory docks Wednesday at the Maine State Pier, the first cruise ship of 2009 to visit Portland. Forty-five ships carrying a record 69,892 passengers are expected this year.

PORTLAND — Steve DiMillo, manager of DiMillo's Floating Restaurant on Long Wharf, doesn't need to look out the window to see whether a cruise ship is in the harbor.

All he has to do is glance at his reservation book.

The arrival dates of each of the 45 cruise ships calling on Portland this season – and the number of passengers on board – are written down there. The schedule allows him to bring in extra staff to handle the crunch of 50 to 75 additional customers who typically arrive at lunchtime.

"When the restaurant is already busy to begin with, they walk in, and it's a zoo, with hundreds of people trying to eat lunch at the same time," DiMillo said.

For years, business and city officials have raved about the dollars that cruise ships bring to Portland, but they could point only to anecdotal evidence, such as the big lunch crowd at Dimillo's. Now, they can hold up an academic study.

On Wednesday, the day the first cruise ship of the season arrived in Portland, University of Maine economists Todd Gabe and Jim McConnon Jr. released an economic impact study of the city's 2008 cruise ship season. Commissioned by the city, the study found that the average cruise ship passenger spends about $81 in Greater Portland during a one-day visit.

In 2008, passenger spending generated between $5.8 million and $8 million for the regional economy, creating 69 to 96 full- and part-time jobs, the study concluded.

The city hosted nearly 48,000 passengers from 35 ships in 2008, and the numbers are growing. This year, 45 ships carrying a record 69,892 passengers are expected to call on the port. And next year, 68 ships are scheduled to arrive, with an estimated 78,550 passengers.

Portland spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said the city has become a popular stop for cruise ships because of its success marketing the port to the industry as a way to save money on fuel.

Ships use considerably less fuel when they travel at slower speeds, she explained. So when a Nova Scotia-bound ship traveling from Boston stops in Portland, it shortens the distance on each leg of its journey and can reduce speeds, she said.

Cruise lines typically set their schedules two to three years in advance. Last summer, when fuel prices reached record levels, the city had a compelling marketing message, Clegg said.

Janis Beitzer, executive director of the Portland Downtown District, said the UMaine study shows that growth in the cruise ship industry is "very promising" for many businesses.

A benefit not measured in the study, she said, is that many visitors will go home and tell their friends and family about Portland, and that could generate even more tourism.

The UMaine study was conducted during several cruise ship visits over a seven-day period last September and October. The study's authors and several graduate students handed out 2,484 surveys and self-addressed stamped envelopes to cruise passengers returning to their ship after a day spent onshore. More than half of the passengers mailed in the survey, the authors said.

Doing a statistical analysis of the results, the UMaine team concluded that Portland's cruise ship passengers tend to be older, more educated and earn higher annual incomes than the general population. They tend to be "veteran" cruisers, having taken several trips, but few had spent substantial time in the region before their visit.

The average age of the respondents was 62, and 46 percent were ages 60 to 69.

The study found that a typical cruise ship passenger spent $80.51 in the Portland region. That amount increased to $109.68 when including passenger expenditures on tours sponsored by the cruise lines.

Nearly 80 percent of the respondents spent money on food and beverages – about $28 a day. On average, respondents spent $21 on apparel, $6 on fine art and jewelry, $5 on household items and $5 on transportation.

More survey respondents came from Maryland, California and Virginia than from other states.

The city of Portland paid half of the cost of the $8,000 study. The cost would have been much higher if it had included wages for the UMaine professors and graduate students, Gabe said.

Bar Harbor remains the top cruise ship destination in Maine, hosting 96 ships this year.

According to a study released Wednesday by Cruise Lines International Association, the industry pumped $29 million into Maine's economy in 2008. Unlike the UMaine study, which focused on tourism spending, the cruise industry study includes spending by the cruise lines, such as buying supplies and paying dockage fees.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at: tbell@pressherald.com

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The CruiseMaine Coalition in partnership with the Maine Port Authority and the communities of Bangor, Belfast, Boothbay Harbor, Bar Harbor, Bucksport, Camden, Eastport, Freeport, Kennebunk-Kennebunkport, Portland, Rockland and several Associate Members including Chase Leavitt & Co., Discover New England, Down East Magazine, FlyBangor, GetEtched, Maine & Co., Maine Office of Tourism, Maine Tourism Association, Maine Department of Transportation, Penobscot Bay & River Pilot’s Association, and the Washington County Commissioner’s Office works to promote these communities to the travel trade, travel media and cruise industry as attractive cruise destinations. We also provide the relative community and business support necessary for these areas to become and remain viable, productive cruise destinations while promoting cultural preservation and responsible tourism.