Vacationers mean business, port says

It’s not just about the cargo boxes.

Los Angeles port officials don’t want potential customers to think they are interested in handling only container traffic. They also want to maintain the facility’s status as the nation’s fourth-busiest cruise-line port and the West Coast’s leading departure point for vacations at sea.

On Wednesday, port officials released information on the cruise industry’s economic contribution to the Los Angeles area, noting that it provided 2,478 jobs, generated more than $89 million in salaries and produced $9.7 million in state and local tax revenue in 2006.

The study, conducted by Martin Associates, is intended to underscore the need for a new cruise ship terminal and further development of the waterfront.

Last month, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach released a study showing that more than 40% of U.S. imports flowed through the local harbors as part of a push to get a bigger share of federal transportation, port security and healthcare funding.

In addition, Los Angeles officials touted the port as the West Coast’s busiest gateway for steel and the nation’s second-largest after Houston.

In the cruise business, Los Angeles trails three Florida ports -- Miami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral. The Florida ports mainly offer cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. California port destinations include Hawaii and Mexico.

The cruise industry is building larger and larger vessels, and the competition to accommodate them is fierce, port officials say. The most recent cruise industry data, for example, show Long Beach ranked seventh nationally and rapidly growing San Diego in 11th place in 2005.

To keep growing, Los Angeles must move forward with the proposed cruise terminal, which would be located in the outer harbor, and a waterfront development plan, said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

The waterfront project is a plan to develop 400 acres of port property between the Vincent Thomas Bridge and the federal breakwater in San Pedro, including park space, walkways and business and retail development. Hearings will be held on both plans in the coming weeks.

Both are essential, Knatz said, for the port to remain competitive and to accommodate bigger cruise ships. Los Angeles had 226 cruise ship arrivals in 2006, and some predict that traffic will grow to 400 a year by 2020.

With the proposed terminal, larger cruise ships would be able to avoid the main shipping channel and the port’s turning basin, which are too narrow and crowded, and they wouldn’t have to pass under the Vincent Thomas Bridge. The two-mile route to the current cruise terminal “just isn’t big enough anymore,” Knatz said.

She added that the cruise industry provided an important boost to local businesses. Passengers spent $44.7 million in the Los Angeles region in 2006 on hotel stays, restaurants and vacation clothing. Crew members spent an additional $23.6 million on clothing, shoes and electronics. Cruise lines spent $144.9 million on items such as groceries, fuel, flowers and ship maintenance.

“We are a multi-service port,” beyond the booming cargo business, Knatz said. “One of the things we want to be sure to do is ... accommodate these other uses. Some of these kinds of business wind up in smaller niche ports, but a lot of it wants to come here.”

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ron.white@latimes.com