We know a bit more now about the renewed interest in Great Lakes cruising and the plans of a new campaign designed to attract more cruise ships into the Great Lakes region. What we don’t know yet is which ports might attract the highest interest and whether or not the port of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor will make the grade or be considered as a future port of call.
Last week, against the backdrop of a cruise ship docked at Mackinac Island, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder helped launch “Cruise the Great Lakes,” a new international partnership to bring more cruise passengers to the Great Lakes.
“Cruise the Great Lakes” is the newest project of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, (GSGP) of which Governor Snyder is the chair.
In addressing the crowd on the resort island in the Straits of Mackinac, Snyder said, “I am excited to bring more cruise ships to our wonderful Great Lakes so visitors can experience our fantastic shoreline communities.” He added, “Cruising on the Great Lakes is poised for major growth in the coming years, with significant economic benefits for the entire region. In 2018, our waterways saw nearly 100,000 port visits by passengers. This initiative aims to increase those numbers, which in turn, increases the amount of economic impact.”
The news conference, attended by executives representing the Great Lakes travel industry, coincided with a port of call by Victory Cruise Line’s luxury ship, Victory I, which is in its third year touring the Great Lakes. Victory Cruise Lines operates two identical 84-crewmember, 202-passenger ships in the Great Lakes, Victory I and Victory II.
Bruce Nierenberg, Chairman and Founder of Victory Cruise Lines said, “This is an exciting time for Victory Cruise Lines as we are in the midst of doubling our capacity on the Great Lakes within a very short period of time.” He added, “We are committed to taking advantage of the unprecedented demand for our type of cruising in all five Great Lakes and St. Lawrence in particular.”
The GSGP is the organizing body for Cruise the Great Lakes. The initiative is led by representatives from Great Lakes States and Canadian Provinces, and includes partners representing travel and tourism professionals across the region. David Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan, serves as the chair of Cruise the Great Lakes.
Lorenz told the Mackinac press conference, “The mission of Cruise the Great Lakes is to promote cruising in the Great Lakes through an optimized and unique brand targeted toward current and potential passengers.” He added, “Our immediate focus is on marketing to potential consumers, both passengers and tour operators, in North America, but we’ll also target cruise operators. There is room for more cruise lines in our waters.”
In 2018, eight ships operated in the region, including ships from Victory, Blount Small Ship Adventures and Pearl Seas Cruises. Two additional lines plan to enter the region by 2020.
After issuing a request for proposals for marketing services, Cruise the Great Lakes selected Grand Rapids-based Stevens Advertising to develop and execute the regional cruise marketing program. Stevens has extensive experience promoting travel and tourism brands.
Allen Crater is President of Stevens Advertising. He says, “Regional cruising has been growing rapidly despite the lack of a consistent regional brand or marketing program specifically directed at cruise passengers.” He adds, “We believe our strategy for Cruise the Great Lakes will unify the core messaging and position the region for sustained cruising growth for years to come.”
As I reported here on Moody on the Market last week, cruise ships from Chicago used to visit the St. Joseph waterfront for many years decades ago. I reached out to Millicent Huminsky from the Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council to see if she felt we would ever see that sort of action in Michigan’s Great Southwest again, especially if the local harbor became a stop on a multi-city itinerary in the Great Lakes basin. She replied, “Sure! As we all know, St. Joseph is a commercial port, so we could welcome cruise ships.” She notes, “Cruise ships typically dock during the day and move on to their next destination at night. During the day, cruise ship passengers would spend their time in the downtown area, which would bring additional revenue to the merchants.”
No mention of specific ports of call emerged from last week’s press conference, as work gets underway, so whether our local port ends up on the “must see” list will wait for another day. Stay tuned.
