Did you know that you can visit all five Great Lakes while taking a cruise from Toronto to Chicago?
That’s just one of many itineraries available on the world’s largest system of surface fresh water that a new international alliance wants the world to discover.
“The goal of this international collaborative is to share with the world the incredible, unique experiences that travellers can have by visiting our region by cruise ship,” says David Lorenz, vice-president of Travel Michigan and chairman of Cruise the Great Lakes .
“The effort is pretty unique. Typically, our states and provinces compete for travellers. Each entity usually stands alone to lure and grow visitation. But if you think about, tourists don’t really care about borders and boundaries.”
Cruise the Great Lakes’ inaugural half-season last year, which began in August, saw 17 ships — roughly 6,000 passengers — visit Toronto. This season, about 35 ships are expected to dock in the city between May and October.
In 2018, the Great Lakes region, which collectively has a $6-trillion economy, saw 100,000 passenger port visits, Lorenz said.
Cruise the Great Lakes collaborates with three cruise ship partners — Victory Cruise Lines, Blount Small Ship Adventures and Pearl Seas Cruises, two provinces — Ontario and Quebec, and five U.S. states — Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota.
Ontario Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Michael Tibollo says he’s excited about the impact presented by the potential and expected growth of Great Lakes cruising on the province’s $34-billion tourism industry.
“We are supporting (it) because we realize and we believe in the importance of this asset that we have that has really never been fully utilized and developed,” Tibollo said. “This is a landmark development for tourism along the Great Lakes and for the province of Ontario.”
Find out more at cruisethegreatlakes.com .
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
