Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced early Monday morning she is making efforts to get cruise ships to make an extra stop to Buffalo. This came on top of an announcement for additional funding for projects along Buffalo's waterfront.
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"We're gonna be bringing more passenger, freight passenger cruise ships to Buffalo. What a radical idea, what a radical idea... and we're gonna get it done," said Gov. Hochul during her announcement.
“I remember I was at a meeting of the Great Lakes governors and Canadian premiers up in Quebec, and there was a person who ran a very profitable cruise ship line, and he showed on a map all the places he was coming through… and then it goes onto Erie, Pennsylvania as their next stop. I said, ‘Newsflash! There’s a place called Buffalo, and I have a feeling that people will find a lot more to do, and I love Erie, Pennsylvania, but there’s a lot more to do here.'”
Patrick Kaler, President and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara believes Great Lakes cruise lines should have a stop here in Buffalo.
"I think this is a very exciting opportunity for us," said Kaler. "There are several ports of call around all of the Great Lakes themselves, the Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces and I think Buffalo should obviously be one of those ports."
The Visit Buffalo Niagara team has already reached out to the Council of Great Lakes.
"We have already started engaging with the Council of Great Lakes, governors and premiers and their tourism initiative and cruising the Great Lakes," Kaler said. "We had actually started this because we thought, at least, the boats could remain out in the water and there could be tenders that would bring people into Buffalo. But this makes the experience even better. So we're very excited about this."
Is the interest for a Great Lake cruise there?
"There's lots of interest in cruising the Great Lakes" Kaler said. "There are two major vessels that are cruising throughout the lakes themselves right now and many of the other port cities enjoy the benefits of having these passengers come in to their destinations. Whether or not it just be a port of call, that's part of the overall cruise or what I would hope is, that we could be the beginning or ending portion of a cruise itinerary."
According to AAA, the closest that these Great Lakes cruise ships come to Buffalo is Port Colborne, Ontario but Gov. Hochul says she's talked to cruise ships that have pulled into the local Erie Basin Marina.
"There's different sizes of cruise ships made. It's not going to be the 3,000 people, Disney Cruise coming here. There are Great Lakes cruise ships which have maybe 100 or 200 people on them," Hochul explained. "We've actually had one or two pull in at the Erie Basin Marina and I've talked to people. They get off and they take a walk over to Canalside. They have a great experience, but it's not really marketed the way we'd like it to. It's sort of a one-off so even just having a couple of ships come in like that, I already know that the demand will be there. We just have to get the cruise ships to get us on their schedule. That's part of it and we have to prove to them that we have the amenities."
The amenities are sure to come, Hochul made the announcement Monday of the various projects coming to Buffalo's waterfront thanks to the expedited funds coming for the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC), totaling $54.2 million this year for projects redesigning the Wilkeson Pointe, and the Bell Slip.
"The more your waterfront looks good, the more accessible it is and the more enjoyable it is, the more people are going to be drawn here," said Congressman Brian Higgins. "The idea of the cruise ships looking at the Great Lakes, the idea of Buffalo becoming a major center for recreational boating is within our aspiration for this waterfront and that's what these projects are all about."
In terms of potential attraction to build a structure that can accommodate cruise ships coming in and out of Buffalo, there are still many unknowns, but conversations are still continuing to be had.
"We're still looking at all of that. It's still very preliminary for us," Kaler said. "We just joined in the last month with the Great Lakes organization and so there's still a lot of homework for us to do on this. But this gives us a great story to go out to the planners, these vessels and the cruise ship companies to get on their radar and to start talking and having the conversations about having Buffalo be a port city."