Cruise ships return to Santa Barbara after COVID break. Are visits boosting business?

As cruise ship visits have returned to Santa Barbara — with 15 visits on this year’s spring schedule from mid-March through May — local businesses also have been seeing the return of economic impacts in varying degrees that come with the cruise ship passengers.

The cruise ship program resumed with the first visit on March 16, after being paused for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When cruise ship passengers disembark, the first place where they arrive is Sea Landing in the Santa Barbara Harbor, where co-owner Jaime Diamond said she often sees passengers returning with bags from restaurants or other nearby shops.

Diamond said that some common activities cruise ship passengers participate in include taking pre-arranged tours around Santa Barbara or to Solvang, wine tasting, whale watching or renting kayaks.

The number of passengers on a cruise ship anchored offshore from Santa Barbara ranges from fewer than 500 — like the MS Regatta, which visited Santa Barbara on Monday — to more than 3,500 passengers.

According to a 2016 economic impact study conducted by Visit Santa Barbara, cruise ship visits brought more than $3.9 million into Santa Barbara, with $1.2 million spent in retail and $1.4 million from restaurants.

Hannah Ponsford, assistant manager at J. Wilkes’ Tasting Room, said cruise ship visits have noticeably boosted business.

“We’ve actually been opening at 10 a.m. (instead of noon) on cruise ship days,” Ponsford said. “It’s been really fun meeting all the different people and sharing our wines.”

She also said that, on a normal day, the tasting room usually starts getting busy at 1 p.m. or 2 p.m., but on cruise ship days, the busy time begins around noon or even 11:30 a.m., closer to opening.

“For us, we’ve been able to get people in earlier when we normally wouldn’t,” Ponsford said.

While some businesses are enjoying an economic boost on days that cruise ships visit, others have not been noticing much of a difference.

“At first, with a couple of the cruise ships, there was a ton of business. There was definitely an influx of people coming in,” said Blake Ekeler, an employee at Surf N’ Wear Beach House. “They’re not necessarily buying a ton of stuff, though; it’s more like little knick-knacks. So as far as numbers are concerned, we don’t really notice it that much.”

Ekeler added that the increase in people out, along with the closure of a lane on Cabrillo Boulevard on those days, is noticeable, but it doesn’t always lead to increased business.

“I wouldn’t say that there’s much of a difference (regarding economic benefit),” Ekeler said. “I’ve talked to some friends that work in the restaurant business and the restaurants aren’t really noticing it either.”

Diamond said that while cruise ships do tend to bring a quick cash boost to some businesses, it’s more about the long game — bringing the passengers back to the area after their cruise.

“For most of these people, it’s their introduction to Santa Barbara, and it makes them want to come back,” Diamond said, adding that several people who visited Santa Barbara via cruise before the pandemic started to come back, bringing families or friends, near the end of last year.

The final cruise ship visit of the season is scheduled for May 20.