About 280,000 visitors are expected to arrive on Catalina Island’s shores via cruise ship this year. Far and away, the largest carrier of those visitors is Carnival Cruise Lines which typically calls on the port of Avalon twice per week with up to 2,600 passengers per visit.
Once onshore, the cruise ship visitors to the Island embark on a variety of activities that enrich our local economy to the tune of an estimated $23 million per year. The top five activities they enjoy are shopping (64.4 percent), Dining (54.1 percent), sightseeing (30.4 percent), going to the beach (29.6 percent) and renting a golf cart for a scenic drive (17.8 percent). All of these activities are revenue generating to our local businesses and the transactions are mostly taxable too. Of course, 100 percent of those visitors use a tender to bring them ashore, so “wharfage” (the fee charged for transiting the wharf) is also generated. In 2017 wharfage from Cruise ship visitors generated just under $603,000 for the city of Avalon.
The top states of origin among Cruise ship visitors coming to Catalina Island are California, Arizona and Utah. Among the Californians on board (71.1 percent), the majority of visiting passengers reside in the greater Los Angeles area, followed by San Francisco Bay area and San Diego. Since they are “regionally sourced,” they should have a great propensity for making a return visit to the island. In fact, 48.9 percent stated in a 2016 survey by Lauren Schlau Consulting, that they were extremely likely to return to the island in the near future.
Approximately 75 percent of cruise ship visitors to the Island stated that it was their first time to visit.
That means that every time a cruise ship comes into port, the majority are first time visitors and that about ½ of them will return to the Island for another visit, usually staying overnight and contributing even more to our economy.
Members of the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau’s Cruise Committee will be attending the 2018 Florida Caribbean Cruise Association Conference, November 5 through 9, 2018. Appointments have been scheduled with Carnival, Princess, Norwegian and a handful of smaller ship lines to discuss visits to the island, changes in itineraries and seasonal stops in Avalon by ships relocating from the Northwest US to the Caribbean or vice versa.
For more information on Catalina Island visitor spending and demographics, visit CatalinaChamber.com and click on the “about” tab, then “Visitor Statistics.”
