(Austin, TX) — This morning, the members of the Texas House approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, which authorizes a legislative study to establish the viability of adding a cruise ship port south of Calhoun County. Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, released the following statement.

"An additional cruise ship port south of Calhoun County would be a welcome addition to our revenue generating efforts. Conducting the legislative study is the first step and I am confident that the Governor will support this endeavor.

"After Naval Station Ingleside closed down, the area lost over 6,000 military and civilian jobs. Our goal is to create jobs in the region and bring in an estimated $2 billion in new revenue. An additional Texas cruise ship port between Calhoun and Cameron counties could offer an economic boost to the state economy.

"The cruise ship industry is new and growing rapidly - 50 million North Americans indicate intent to cruise just in the next three years - we can't let this opportunity sail away."

In Houston, the launching of cruise lines generated about $1billion in direct spending and $893million in direct wages. Florida and California have five cruise operating ports, while Texas has only one - nothing south of Calhoun county. The cruise industry is the most exciting growth category in the leisure market. Since 1990, the industry has had an average passenger growth rate of 7.2% per annum. It's also a young industry, 40% of total passengers have been generated in the past five years alone.

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