The December 2009 passenger, operations and cargo statistics are now available on the Port of Seattle web site. Here is a recap of the passenger summary for December 2009. As one can see, December numbers were up for domestic passenger travel for 2009 over 2008. This bodes well for the travel industry, which has taken a heavy hit during this recessionary period. International passengers/travel arrivals were margially down for the month however, it was a net gain, albeit small for the International travel as a whole, with not quite a 1% increase. Thanksgiving holidays may have accounted for arrivals of international passengers who left after December 1, since Thanksgiving was late this year. With a nearly 3% increase in passenger travels, this is an improvement and good news for the hospitality industry here in the Puget Sound area.
| SEA-TAC International Airport | ||||
| Passenger Summary | ||||
| Dec-09 | ||||
| Monthly Statistics | ||||
| PASSENGERS | Dec 2009s | Dec-08 | Amt Change | % Change |
| Domestic Passengers - IN | 1,146,970 | 1,108,809 | 38,161 | 3.44 |
| Domestic Passengers - OUT | 1,154,634 | 1,122,275 | 32,359 | 2.88 |
| Subtotal - Domestic Passengers | 2,301,604 | 2,231,084 | 70,520 | 3.16 |
| International Passengers - IN | 112,402 | 112,501 | -99 | -0.09 |
| International Passengers - OUT | 114,783 | 112,709 | 2,074 | 1.84 |
| Subtotal - Int'l Passengers | 227,185 | 225,210 | 1,975 | 0.88 |
| Total Passengers - IN | 1,259,372 | 1,221,310 | 38,062 | 3.12 |
| Total Passengers - OUT | 1,269,417 | 1,234,984 | 34,433 | 2.79 |
| PASSENGER GRAND TOTAL | 2,528,789 | 2,456,294 | 72,495 | 2.95 |
Taking the 2009 year as a whole, however, shows just how difficult it has been for the travel industry. The recession clearly affected the International traveler with an 11+% decrease in arrivals over 2008. Domestic was down as well, but not as badly as the International segment. This definitely caused the hospitality industry tough times in 2009.
| SEA-TAC International Airport | ||||
| Passenger Summary | ||||
| Dec-09 | ||||
| Year to Date | ||||
| PASSENGERS | 2009 | 2008 | Amt Change | % Change |
| Domestic Passengers - IN | 14,297,596 | 14,626,611 | (329,015) | -2.25 |
| Domestic Passengers - OUT | 14,296,186 | 14,647,483 | (351,297) | -2.4 |
| Subtotal - Domestic Passengers | 28,593,782 | 29,274,094 | (680,312) | -2.32 |
| International Passengers - IN | 1,319,718 | 1,484,978 | (165,260) | -11.13 |
| International Passengers - OUT | 1,314,012 | 1,437,456 | (23,444) | -8.59 |
| Subtotal - International Passengers | 2,633,730 | 2,922,434 | (288,704) | -9.88 |
| Total Passengers - IN | 15,617,314 | 16,111,589 | (494,275) | -3.07 |
| Total Passengers - OUT | 15,610,198 | 16,084,939 | (474,741) | -2.95 |
| PASSENGER GRAND TOTAL |
31,227,512 |
32,196,528 | (969,016) | -3.01 |
These are very telling numbers whether one looks at the numbers from a one month performance or, even more so, from the year-to-date numbers. Cautious optimism seems to be the emotion of the moment when talking to people within the travel, and in particular, the hospitality industries. As one hotelier, who asked that he and his hotel remain anonymous, indicated that while room occupancy was not where the company would like it to be, it was an improvement over the 2008 numbers. While he lamented that REVPAR, revenue per available room, was down due to discounted room rates, he was rejoicing over the fact that at least they have bodies in the bed and are maintaining housekeeping and maintenance staff working and being paid.
For More Info, visit the Port of Seattle website and download their statistics spreadsheet.
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Comments
I would imagine these numbers go up when all of the cruise ships go to Alaska in the summer?
Actually the monthly travel (inbound and oubound passengers) numbers will go up fo those months but when you look at the year's numbers, they reflect the last cruise season. The annual numbers really show how hard Seattle was hit in the hospitality industry during the recession. It was hard to see because most of the cruises sailed full, so those months likely looked better. But there was a definite impact on the balance of the year as we, like most other locales, suffered from a lack of business travelers.
it's good that they publish these numbers.
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