Cruise ship traffic has been relatively light across the Maritimes this season, but that is about to change. Port officials are expecting an increase in traffic as the weather cools down.
After two record years, the Halifax Port Authority is reporting a 31 per cent drop in the number of cruise ship passengers through the end of June, and a drop in the number of ships by 13 per cent.
But port authority spokesman Lane Farguson says it’s mainly because ships are coming later. He expects to see a record number of vessels in September and October, including 10 inaugural visits.
“We’re expecting a little over 230,000 passengers coming on 138 different vessels,” says Farguson
The cruise ship season is also off to a slow start in Saint John, where 48 of 51 visits are scheduled for September and October.
Sydney’s cruise ship season kicked off May 7 and is scheduled to run until Nov. 11 – the latest the season has ever gone. Sydney is expecting a total of 78 visits this season, with a 15 per cent increase in passengers over 2013, with 107,000 visitors.
Port officials say many cruise ship passengers prefer to visit the Maritimes in the fall, when temperatures are cooler and the leaves are turning colour.
“We wanted to celebrate our 20th anniversary and we didn’t want to go anywhere where it was real hot, like the Caribbean, so we chose Canada,” says Jerilyn Scramaglia, who is visiting from San Diego.
With a cruise ship docked in Halifax on Thursday, Glen Hood’s horse-drawn tour was full.
“It was slow starting off, still a little slow, but picks up around the first of September and goes until the end of October, five days a week,” says Hood.
When the cruise ships come, they also generate a lot of money on shore. Farguson says the cruise ship industry is worth $50 million in Halifax alone.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Marie Adsett
