Great Lakes cruise industry posts solid increase in passenger numbers
2022 is turning out to be a strong year for the Great Lakes cruise industry and 2023 could be even better.
Stephen Burnett, Executive Director at the Great Lakes Cruise Association, says 2022 averages of Great Lakes cruise passengers and inventories are up by roughly 12 per cent compared to 2019 with roughly 26,000 Great Lakes cruise passengers.
Steve Salmons, President and CEO of the Windsor Port Authority says "the return of cruise ships has also contributed to the 15 per cent increase in vessels to the Port."
Burnett says the average size of a Great Lakes cruise ship is around 200 guests, which can have an economic impact when they visit a Great Lakes community and take part in various shore excursions.
He is currently conducting an economic impact study and early indications point to an estimated $7-million a season, per cruise ship, for Great Lakes communities.
Burnett says Windsor is also a very good port for cruise ships because it's an easy entry off the Detroit River along the riverfront parks.
"From a captain's point of view, this is a slam dunk, a great port to place a ship along side the wall," he says. "Of course, Windsor has great attractions not only in the city but you have the wonderful fort in Amherstburg not too far away, you have Pelee Island, you have the marvellous wineries."
Burnett says Windsor is blessed with attractions and across the river you have Detroit.
"So if you add the attractions in Detroit to those attractions in Windsor and claim them apart of the Windsor attractions, if I can say that, it's a very, very robust destination for a cruise ship to visit. It's very attractive," he says.
Burnett also believes Windsor plays a pivotal role for the growing Great Lakes cruise industry.
"We have ships that can clear into the country when they travel from the U.S. into Windsor, they can clear out of the country there. So as a pivotal destination, it's in some respects a hinge point when you're building an itinerary between the upper lakes and the lower lakes. Windsor is just about perfectly situated," he says.
While 2022 has been a strong year coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Burnett says he's always working up to 18 months ahead of time planning for coming cruise seasons and he's anticipating over 32,000 cruise passengers in 2023, based current and projected reservations.
Burnett also expects the Great Lakes cruise industry to "grow exponentially" over the next five to six years.
He says he has conversations on-going right now with five new cruise lines exploring options within the Great Lakes, potentially launching cruises in 2025 and 2026.