Cruise Association notes the launch of Prince Rupert's Cruise season

The Seven Seas Navigator at the
Prince Rupert Cruise Terminal in May

Saturday's arrival of the MS Regatta provided the second of this year's seven cruise stops in the city, as the passengers took advantage of a full day of events in Prince Rupert to do a little exploring on Seafest Saturday.

And while tourism officials and cruise ambassadors can't deliver a Seafest for every visit this year, they are hopeful that visitors to the community find enough to explore, in order to help in spreading word of the city as a potential port stop for other cruise ships and lines in the years to come.

An international cruise industry group, Cruise Lines International Association recently took note of the first vessel of the year in May, making mention of the launch of the cruise year in their monthly cruise update for that month.

In addition to the quick update of the start of the new season, the newsletter also offered up a bit of a review as to what local officials are working on to help increase port visits in the future.

Calling attention to the work of the Prince Rupert Port Authority and the Cruise Ship Working Group, which is working this year on plans to develop a cruise tourism strategy for the future.

The working group consists of a wide cross range of participation from the community, with representation from the City of Prince Rupert, Tourism Prince Rupert, Chamber of Commerce and a number of local tourism operators.

A good portion of the foundation for that strategy will come from an assessment that the Port hired cruise consultants Bermello and Ajami Partners to conduct.

That review which took place during the off season, was designed to better understand current market opportunities for the industry and how the North Coast could gain better access to the industry.

Those findings more than likely have made for much of the early discussions for the working Group. Framing much of the discussion as they work towards rebuilding the cruise industry profile for the North Coast with the various vessel lines that sail past our harbour entrance each summer.

The Bermello and Ajami group was involved with a Port and Harbor facility Development plan for the City of Ketchikan in the past, a topic which you can review here.

No details have been released yet from the Port of Prince Rupert related to their report on the North Coast cruise industry,  nor has their been an update as to the latest developments from the Cruise Ship working group.

For more items on the Cruise industry on the North Coast see our archive page here.