Vancouver’s cruise terminal was bustling Monday, with travellers getting ready to check in on the final sailing of the season.

The Norwegian Encore set sail Tuesday morning with about 4,000 passengers on board, expected to make several stops before reaching its final destination in Los Angeles.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) says this season was record-breaking, with the number of cruise ships disembarking and docking in Vancouver up 20 per cent from the year before.

“We had 358 cruise calls and just over 1.4 million cruise passengers [pass through] the Port of Vancouver this year,” said Chance McKee, VFPA senior trade development representative.

He says that, on average, a single cruise passenger passing through the city spends about $1,100 on hotels, restaurants, shopping, and local attractions.

“The economic impact of Vancouver’s cruise sector can’t be understated,” McKee said.

“It delivers a $1 billion economic impact to the local Vancouver economy every single cruise season.”

Just steps from the terminal, Snowggle Gifts sees that impact firsthand. Store manager Akari Minamihama says she even uses the cruise schedule to help determine staffing.

“Every time, I check how many cruises are coming and how many passengers are expected,” she said.

“When there are cruise ships, we have so many customers from around the world.”

VFPA and tourism bureau Destination Vancouver have been actively promoting the city as more than just a cruise port, but as a destination for visitors.

Jarrett Vaughan, an adjunct professor at the UBC Sauder School of Business, says it’s important to allow the tourism industry to grow by being pro-development when it comes to hotels and convention centres.

“It is really critical that Vancouverites recognize how important the cruise industry is to our economy,” Vaughan said.

“We want to support restaurants and bar openings. This is how we generate a lot of tax revenue and employment in this province.”

Before the vessel set sail, CityNews spoke to some excited passengers, sisters who look forward to being ship-bound.

“What happens on the ship stays on the cruise ship,” one said.

“You are as old as you behave, so we are just going to let our hair down and have a really good time.”