Cruise ship spending accounts for $7.3 billion in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – A business-oriented research group says the 9 million cruise passengers that came through Florida in 2013 accounted for $7.3 billion in direct spending.

Florida TaxWatch said in a report released last week that Florida has three of the most-visited cruise terminals in the world: Port Everglades, Port Miami and Port Canaveral.

The report says that Florida is responsible for more than a third of all cruise-industry direct spending in the United States.

The report also says that Florida accounts for more than half the U.S.-based cruise-ship employment.