Visitor counts improve

The November visitor count was 2  percent higher this year than last year, according to figures released this week by the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce.

While that seems like a modest bump, it needs to be placed in context: the count would have been higher if one cruise ship had not been in dry dock.

Even so, cross channel traffic increased significantly over last year, by 8.1 percent.

The November cruise ship visitor count plunged 20.8 percent.

The November visitor count was 2  percent higher this year than last year, according to figures released this week by the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce.

While that seems like a modest bump, it needs to be placed in context: the count would have been higher if one cruise ship had not been in dry dock.

Even so, cross channel traffic increased significantly over last year, by 8.1 percent.

The November cruise ship visitor count plunged 20.8 percent.

According to Griffin, that was because the Carnival Inspiration was in dry dock.

He said the cruise ship visitor numbers would have been the same as last year’s or better if not for the absence of the Inspiration.

Cruise ships frequently have a significant impact on visitor counts. Three cruise ships visited Catalina Island during the first week of April, each of them a 2,600-passenger vessel, that boosted the count.

In May, Catalina visits from cruise ship passengers increased 47 percent.

The April and May bumps were the result of seasonal events in the cruise ship industry. Spring and fall seasons bring additional cruise ship traffic to Catalina. In the spring, the ships go to Alaska. In the fall, they come from Alaska.

The November visitor count increase was apparently not a surprise and, once again, the season apparently played a role.

Griffin said the Island gets a bump between Christmas and New Year’s. He also said there had been a three-year trend toward increasing traffic to the Island.

This year, 46,687 visitors came to Catalina in November. Last year, the numbers were 45,887—2 percent higher than in 2012.

“Well, they should have been higher than that,” Griffin said.

The year-to-date figures were also positive. As of November, 729,472 individuals came to the Island. By the same time last year, 699,549. That was a 4.3 percent increase for the year.

Cross channel traffic for the year-to-date was 1.7 percent higher. Cruise ship traffic for the year-to-date: 15.4 percent higher.

“I think we’re still climbing,” Griffin said.

He said Catalina was seeing a continuing trend of improving visitor counts over the last three years. The November statistics support Griffin. The three-year average visitor count increased 12 percent for November. For the year-to-date, the count increased 10.1 percent.

The three-year average for cruise ship visitors for the entire year so far was up 9.5 percent.

Visitor counts might increase even further next year. In addition to the three-year trend toward increased tourism that Griffin mentioned, Carnival is expected to send a second ship to Catalina in January.

The Imagination will reportedly leave Long Beach starting on Jan. 26, 2014 and begin visiting Catalina every Monday. The Imagination can carry 2,052-passengers. In December 2012, the Avalon City Council voted 5-0 to pay Carnival Cruises $125,000—equivalent of half the wharfage fees—to encourage the cruise line to send the second ship.  The city code allowed the city manager to waive the fee, but Carnival Cruises asked for a payment of $125,000. The payment required council approval.

As previously reported in the Islander, visitors generate $99,668,082 annually, according to “Annual Economic Impact of Visitors to Avalon, Catalina Island.”

The Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau report was based on a 10-year period.

The figures were based on city of Avalon tax revenues and the Catalina Island Visitors Bureau statistics.

The report said that each individual visitor generates $117.03 a year.  The report said visitors generate more than $94.7 million in retail, lodging and entertainment sales each year.

Visitors also generate more than $4.9 million in wharfage fees as well as retail, lodging and entertainment taxes.

A 10-year average of 851,672 visitors a year spend an average of $69.37 each on food and retail purchases in Avalon, according to the economic impact report.

Those same visitors spend $11.61 each on tours and entertainment.

The report said that in all, visitors spend an average of more than $59 million annually on food, compared with the $596,795 that residents spend.