Ship shape
An overview of where the county stands in the cruise ship business
With the small cruise ship industry on the rise, the Pictou County Cruise Committee looks to capitalize and bring more luxury liners to the region in the coming years.
The Pearl Mist will be sailing into Pictou Harbour eight times throughout 2019 and 2020, and the Pictou cruise committee is working to attract more of these small luxury liners.
In a recent presentation to Pictou town council, cruise committee co-chair Michelle Young provided a snapshot of the committee’s work so far and a forecast of what’s ahead.
Pictou County Cruise Committee formed in 2007 in partnership with stakeholders that included municipalities of New Glasgow, Pictou town and county and Stellarton.
Since the first ship sailed into Pictou Harbour in 2012, there have been 22 cruise ships dock on the waterfront, bringing 5,675 passengers with them.
“You can tell when the ships are in,” said Kayla Sutherland at Seaside Treasure Trove in Pictou. “A lot of people get the fudge or the nautical stuff.”
Sweets and nautical knickknacks aside, industry studies indicate, overall, passengers will spend an average of $79.85 during a port visit, while crew members spend $87.70.
“The small cruise ship industry is a growing industry,” said committee co-chair Geralyn MacDonald in a phone interview.
The popularity of small luxury vessels like the Pearl Mist is on the rise.
According to an industry news site, 39 vessels with a capacity of under 1,000 passengers are expected to hit the seas over the next three years.
“The people that take the smaller cruise lines have already done the big ships,” said MacDonald. “They want to see areas that they haven’t heard of. They want the onshore experiences that expose them to the culture, the food and the people.”
Three hours at port affords enough time for the culture. Visiting cruise companies hire Ambassadors Tours to transport passengers inland to sites like Stellarton’s Nova Scotia Museum of Industry and the cruise committee arranges for locally guided walking tours along Pictou’s waterfront and cultural sites.
“They’ll get a taste of the area for three hours. They like it, and they want to do more,” MacDonald said.
It’s those passengers who want more the cruise committee is hoping to capitalize on. Tourists who have had a three-hour taste of Pictou County, and who then return without time constraints are likely to spend more time and money in the area.
Roxanne Heighton is owner of the Harbour House in Pictou. She said unlike souvenir shops, her restaurant does not see much of an increase on ship days, unless the ship stays overnight.
“Cruise ships already have everything on board,” she said. “When the ship is here overnight, then we’ll usually get more people.”
Young says there’s no reason Pictou County shouldn’t be benefiting from those repeat visitors.
“The two embarkation ports for the Pearl Mist are Quebec and New York, or Quebec and Portland, Maine,” said Young. “So we’re right in the middle.”
Through their partnership with the Atlantic Canadian Cruise Association, the Pictou Cruise Committee has put Pictou on the map for the growing cruise industry.
The cost of membership with the ACCA is $5,000. Larger ports like Halifax and Sydney pay $50,000 for benefits the association affords its members — marketing expertise, port readiness meetings and, most importantly, opportunity to meet face-to-face with companies planning their itineraries.
Young could not say which companies are interested but hinted strongly there are two other cruise companies looking at Pictou.
“We’re positioned really well to capture more cruise traffic,” said Young.