Norwegian Cruise Lines to resume sailing in the US
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will today resume operations in the US following a year and a half COVID-19 pandemic hiatus.
The last 500 days without sailing has proven the importance of the cruise industry for the US economy. In 2019, the industry generated an estimated $53 billion and 436,600 service jobs. With the industry shut down, Alaska lost an estimated $3 billion in gross state product along with 22,297 cruise-dependent jobs. Seattle lost $4.2 million for each ship that would have docked, and local suppliers lost out on selling 11,460 pounds of seafood and 91,000 pounds of produce per ship.
Now that ships are back on the seas, after battles with the CDC, cruise lines are optimistic again—Royal Caribbean sold out all July and August cruises departing from Florida. The US tourism industry at large is slowly rebounding, with hotel occupancy at its highest since October 2019. However, the uncertainty of the Delta variant has caused the US to extend travel restrictions, barring entry of many international tourists who spend approximately $4,200 per person each visit. As the government grows wary of travel, expect the variant to push a more substantial tourism industry recovery to 2022 at the earliest.
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