September marked two important milestones for the Port of Galveston.

The Galveston Port celebrated its 15th anniversary welcoming cruise ships. And during the first week of the month, the seven-millionth passenger passed through its doors since opening in 2000.

Port managers expect a 28 percent increase in cruise ship passengers for this year over last year.

According to the Port of Galveston, as of last month there have been 2643 ship calls, 18 cruise ships, and now more than seven million cruise passengers embarking from Galveston in the last 15 years. In 2014, approximately 640,000 passengers cruised from the Port while projections this year amount to 824,000 passengers, an increase of 28 percent.

The Port of Galveston:
With over $1.2 billion in direct spending and almost 20,000 jobs paying nearly $1.1 billion in total income, cruise related spending in Texas accounted for 6.3 percent of the cruise industry’s direct expenditures, and 5.6 percent of the industry’ overall spending nationwide.

source: http://www.galveston.com/blog/112/2015-a-banner-year-for-the-port-of-galveston-and-its-cruises/