Port Canaveral saw a record number of cruise passengers this past year, which is not only good for local businesses but the busy port itself.

  • Port Canaveral sees record number of cruise passengers this year
  • Passengers brought in about $2.5 billion in revenue
  • Port considered 2nd busiest cruise terminal in world

Smokehouse Foods isn’t a massive restaurant, but they don’t have to be.

“The growth here is unbelievable,” owner Charlie George said.

In 10 of more than 20 years George's business has been at Port Canaveral, he's seeing more and more people show up for his food.

“We’re getting a lot more foot traffic around the Port," George said. "Everything has changed around here. The upkeep of the marinas, everything has been built up. It’s a lot more accessible, especially to tourists.”

Those tourist numbers are especially up this year, thanks to cruise ship travel. A record-breaking 4.5 million cruise ship passengers made their way through the port in 2017.

Those passenger numbers brought in estimated $2.5 billion in revenue — that’s about $6 million a day, some of which went to local businesses.

“A lot of the growth that we are seeing with cruise passengers is in the hotels, the shuttles, offsite parking," Canaveral Port Authority CEO John Murray said. "When people come in from out of the area, they’re staying in hotels and dining in local restaurants, and it’s great for the area.”

In comparison with last year’s numbers, the Port says multi-day and one-day cruise passengers, combined, are up 6.4 percent, totaling 4.5 million passengers. Multi-day passenger totals are up a record-breaking 7 percent, coming in at 4.2 million passengers.

For local merchants like Smokehouse Foods, they don’t see that slowing down anytime soon.

“Tourists are now coming before their cruise and sometimes staying after the cruise. It’s not just coming and hopping on the boat, because now, we have a whole lot more to offer,” George said.

At this time, Port Canaveral is considered the second busiest cruise port terminal in the world, according to Cruise Lines International Association. It hosts seven ships year-round and two seasonally.