1. The industry before the pandemic. For many years, the cruise industry was booming, riding the crest of a wave that culminated in more than 29.7 million passengers in 2019. Tourism was one of the most important and fastest growing sectors worldwide. It accounted for 10.4% of global GDP in 2019 - counting direct, indirect, and induced effects – and obtained a growth in 2019 of 4%, compared to 6% in 2018 and 7% in 2017, always above the growth of the world economy. “The number of cruise passengers increased by 68.5% in the last 10 years prior to the pandemic, reaching almost 30 million in 2019.” Within the tourism sector, cruise tourism was the segment that ex- perienced the greatest growth. Thus, the number of cruise passen- gers increased by 68.5% in the last 10 years prior to the pandemic, reaching almost 30 million in 2019. Over the same period, the aver- age annual growth rate of cruise industry revenues was 7.2%. 2. Effects of the COVID-19 and industry recovery. In 2020, it was forecast that more than 32 million passengers would go cruising, but then along came COVID-19 to take the wind from the industry’s sails. From being the single fastest growth area of the entire tourism industry, the cruise industry was among the hardest hit by the pandemic. By mid-March 2020, CLIA members voluntarily halted all cruise passenger sailings worldwide, and repatriated over 100 thou- sand crew members, often by ship due to commercial air travel restrictions. Between mid-March and September 2020, the CLIA 54 SPAIN-US CHAMBER MARKET REPORT