Cruise ships on the Great Lakes may be smaller in stature than their ocean-going counterparts, but they're making a big financial impact on lakeside local economies.

In cities from Detroit to Holland to Sault Ste. Marie, officials said they're seeing a growing interest (and benefit) in becoming a port of call.

“It’s definitely a boost for the local economy,” said Sault Ste. Marie City Manager Brian Chapman. “We’re a summer destination to begin with, but when you’re adding that number of cruise ships from people all across the country and possibly the world ... they come in, they’re kind of a captured audience within the city. They shop at our stores, they eat at the restaurants — so it’s a nice infusion of dollars into the local economy.”

According to Chapman, the "up north" Michigan city saw a record number of cruise ships last year, on both sides of the Canadian border.

“We’re definitely seeing an increase,” he said. “This past summer, 2022, we had over 40 cruise ships stop here in Sault, Michigan. I think there were (another 30) in Sault, Canada. ... Post-COVID, the numbers have definitely increased and we’re anticipating even more this coming summer and the summers after.”

Those records were seen across the region. According to Cruise the Great Lakes — an organization that includes leaders from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec and Wisconsin — cruise passengers were expected to make nearly 150,000 visits to ports on the Great Lakes in 2022.

Passengers are up more than 25 percent from 2019, the organization said.

Last year, nine ships cruised on the Great Lakes, including boats from Pearl Seas, American Queen Voyages, St. Lawrence Cruise Lines and Viking Cruises. Cruise the Great Lakes said the lines were estimated to generate an economic impact of over $120 million.

Dave Lorenz, vice president of Travel Michigan and chair for Cruise the Great Lakes, said the organization works directly with all entities involved — communities, visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, port facilities, cruise lines, states and provinces — to promote and support cruising on the Great Lakes.

Next summer, Lorenz said, Escanaba will be a new port of call, joining Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac Island, Houghton, Hancock, Marquette, Detroit, Alpena, Traverse City, Muskegon and others.

“Whenever a ship stops at your location, that’s like a certification of quality,” Lorenz said. “Cruise ships only go where their guests ... want to experience what’s happening in that community or in that surrounding community.”

Lorenz said the average cruise passenger is a U.S. citizen making their first trip to the region. They might know a little about the area, but not a lot.

“(That's) one of the reasons we promote this and support this ... knowing these people will be back after they see how easy it is to traverse by land — and we know they’ll come back once they get a taste of what we have to offer. They’re going to want a bigger meal.”

Some of the ships also cater to European travelers, most notably from Germany and France.

“We’re starting to see more and more Europeans,” Lorenz said. “And if we ever get beyond our current challenges with China, we'll see more people from China come back.

“Prior to COVID, China (was) our number one overseas market. We'd only been marketing there for three years and they surpassed the U.K. and Germany for overseas travel volume and expenditures, by far."

Holland, along the coast of Lake Michigan, is hoping to be added to the port of call list. The city hasn't seen a cruise ship in years, mostly due to a lack of waterfront infrastructure — though it does welcome passengers from Muskegon.

But a proposed waterfront project could make reentry possible.

“We're actually in the middle of the process right now,” said Holland City Manager Keith Van Beek. “We'd be selling some city property and working with a developer that would (build) a waterfront development here in town, (and) one of the key components of their development would be putting in a location for cruise ship docking.

"We’ve been pretty intentional about that."

Having a spot to dock would give Holland an opportunity to showcase its award-winning downtown to a wider audience.

“We definitely have data and feedback and feel we have one of the best downtowns on the coastline of Michigan," Van Beek said. “We know people want to, and do, visit all the time. So, having a more prescribed and simple location for that cruise ship industry to take advantage of our downtown, we think, is great for visitors, but it’s also great for our downtown.”

Officials in Sault Ste. Marie are also working on a dock project to support cruise ships and freighters.

“We have a dock that’s called the Carbide Dock and that’s where the cruise ships and some of the freighters used to land at,” Chapman said. “That site has since gone kind of defunct on us, but we're in the process of actually reconstructing that whole dock this summer and into next summer.

"We’re making it a multi-use type of dock that will facilitate the freighters that come through with iron ore and stuff like that, but we’re also making it a stop for the cruise ships."

Subscribe:Get all your breaking news and unlimited access to our local coverage

In the future, Lorenz said he expects to see continued “steady, slow, sustainable growth in this market.”

“Because people who cruise love cruising,” he said. “They’ll come back if you give them a different itinerary. These cruise lines know their people and they’ll draw them back.”

— Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.  

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Coastal communities benefit from boosted interest in cruising the Great Lakes