News & Updates

President’s Message: November 2024

Mike Rubin President & CEO

Most Floridians don’t realize how important Florida’s seaports are to ensuring our state has the goods and supplies it needs to keep Floridians moving. Far too often, that realization only happens in times of a natural disaster – like the 2024 hurricane season, when fuel supply was essential to getting Floridians and our state back on its feet.

Yet, Florida’s 16 seaports play an outsized role in making sure grocery stores are stocked with food, gas stations have fuel, and hospitals and pharmacies have the medical supplies to heal patients and keep Floridians healthy.

A recent Economic Impact Analysis conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation shows the immense economic impact of Florida’s 16 seaports. Specifically, Florida’s seaports generate:

  • 1.2 million jobs – up 300,000 from 2015
  • $61.7 billion in personal income – up $21.7 billion from 2015, and
  • $195.5 billion in overall economic value – a $78.3 billion growth from 2015

Florida’s return on investment (ROI) is immense. Total state and local taxes generated by this maritime activity if $7.4 billion – up $3.2 billion from 2015.

Consider that, in 2023, Florida invested $140 million in priority seaport projects. That means for every $1 of state investments, Florida sees a $53 ROI in state and local taxes.

This data shows that Florida’s seaports play an indispensable role in supplying critical commodities and why it’s imperative that additional investments are made to ensure our ports remain efficient with modern and necessary equipment, and functional with safe and secure berths and trading lanes.

Now, while Florida’s ports are leaders in importing and exporting commodities, we’re also the cruise capital of the world, and Port Everglades and PortMiami are breaking cruise passenger records.

Port Everglades recently bested its own cruise passenger record with a preliminary count of 4,010,919 million guests embarking and disembarking during FY 2024, which ended September 30. This record is expected to be short lived, however, as 4.4 million guests are anticipated during FY 2025.

PortMiami achieved its highest-ever cruise passenger total of 8,233,056 travelers in FY 2024, which ended September 30. PortMiami experienced a 12.79 percent increase in cruise passenger totals compared to its previous record of 7,299,294 passengers in FY 2023. 

Cruising in Florida is big business. Port Canaveral just welcomed another new ship to its impressive lineup of homeport vessels with the arrival of Disney Cruise Line’s (DCL) Disney Treasure. This is the third DCL ship to be based in Port Canaveral, joining Disney Wish and Disney Fantasy. And Port Everglades, which has one of the most diverse collections of cruise ships, recently welcomed back the newly rebranded luxury line Crystal Serenity for winter homeporting. Crystal has an industry-leading space-to-guest ratio, and she includes a new pickleball court.

One of the reasons Florida’s seaports are successful is because of their leadership. We have some of the very best port directors in the U.S. The strength of these leaders was recently recognized by Florida Trend and their Florida 500 Most Influential Business Leaders. Congratulations to Port Tampa Bay President & CEO Paul Anderson, JAXPORT CEO Eric Green, Port Canaveral CEO & Port Director Capt. John W. Murray, and PortMiami Director & CEO Hydi Webb. I’m also pleased to stand side-by-side of these great leaders in being recognized.

In the coming few weeks, many of us will be attending the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Transportation, Growth & Infrastructure Solution Summit in Orlando. Port Everglades CEO & Port Director Joseph Morris, JAXPORT Chief, Regulatory Compliance, Nick Primrose and I will lead a panel focused on fueling global trade and economic expansion. This one-day summit takes place on December 3.

During this time of Thanksgiving, I’m so thankful for the success of Florida’s ports, the leadership at the helm of each port, and all the employees and team members that help ensure Florida’s supply chain remains strong. Happy Thanksgiving.