Great Lakes reach out to European lines

**Ally** · 07-13-2006, 01:53 PM

Calling the Great Lakes ‘the last un-cruised region of the world’, Stephen Burnett, executive director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition, is on a whistle-stop tour of Europe meeting with cruise lines and tour operators to raise awareness of the region which stretches from the mouth of the St Lawrence to Duluth at the far western edge of Lake Superior.

The GLCC, an organisation of 17 US and Canadian towns, cities and port authorities, has identified around 130 cruise vessels that could conceivably transit the canal, lock systems and five lakes. They are ships up to 740ft in length, 78ft beam and air draft of 116ft.

‘In 2006 there will be six cruise ships sailing in the Great Lakes, so you can see there is plenty of room for growing the inventory,’ Burnett said during a visit to the company’s UK headquarters.

Realistically Burnett is targeting around 60 of the 130 ships, which brings him to Europe where he plans on visiting operators in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

Burnett likens the Great Lakes to Alaska in the 1960s -- ‘a destination full of spectacular scenary, wildlife and culture but with the added attraction of cityscapes and heritage towns.’ He is playing the cultural tourism card as the region’s strongest asset.

This year will see approximately 7,000 passengers in the Great Lakes on six ships: American Canadian Caribbean Lines’ Niagara Prince and Grand Caribe, Cruise West’s Spirit of Nantucket, St Lawrence Cruise Lines’ Canadian Empress, the 18-passenger Georgian Clipper (owned by Canadian company Heritage Cruise Lines) and Hapag-Lloyd’s Columbus (a visitor every year, bar one, since 1997).

Many ports have identified cruise as a long-term growth prospect and are upgrading their facilities, Burnett reports. Detroit, Toledo, Windsor and Little Current are amongst those building new cruise berths and/or terminals whilst Erie, Toronto and Quebec have recently invested in new infrastructure. Burnett estimates around $400m going into cruise-related port improvements from 2002-08.