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BARCELONA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Cruise ships generated 796 million euros (887 million U.S. dollars) in Spain's northeastern city of Barcelona last year, Spanish newspaper Expansion reported on Wednesday.
Cruise passengers spent 315.8 million euros in the city and the main shipping lines operating expenses (Royal Caribbean, Carnival Corporation, MSC Cruceros and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings) reached 121.2 million euros. The crew spent 5.5 million euros, the report said.
Apart from that, a further 353.5 million euros were generated as a result of indirect activities, according to a study by Barcelona University.
The cruise ships contributed to the GDP with 413 million euros and helped to keep 6,759 jobs, while generating 152 million euros of tax revenue.
Cruise passengers stopping at Barcelona, around 1.36 million per year, usually spend only a few hours in the city, around four, while those who spend the night only represent 23.9 percent of the total, spending 2.6 nights as an average.
Barcelona leads cruise ship traffic in Europe. According to the Port of Barcelona, the city received 1.28 million cruise passengers from January to July this year. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars) Enditem
