Six years after the first cruise line decided to make Seattle a summer home for its ships, the Port of Seattle is nowhere close to breaking even on its investment in the industry, according to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The paper says the reason is sweetheart deals with vendors and terminal operators, where they take more financial risk and also gain more potential gain. Defenders of the arrangements say the true economic benefit to the region is from the 350,000 passengers who visit the city each year, though that number is likely to fall.