Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Great Lakes cruise ships coming to Buffalo is looking less and less like an improbability, and more of a matter of when.
When New York Governor Kathy Hochul made a stop to Buffalo in August, she announced that Buffalo's future could include cruise line stops.
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Now, the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) has just approved a study to determine whether or not Buffalo as a port city could be feasible.
This study, which will be conducted by M&N Engineering, DPC, will not only gauge the current state and future prospects of the cruise line industry for the Buffalo/Niagara region, but specifically identify and detail the needed infrastructure improvements for a home port in the Queen City of the Great Lakes: Buffalo, N.Y.
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"We want to actually look specifically at needed infrastructure, determining what type of port," says President of the ECHDC, Steve Ranalli. "There's a difference between a home port where folks are actually coming to Buffalo, flying in staying a night or two, getting on that boat and traveling around the Great Lakes and then coming back to Buffalo before they leave. Those facilities are much more significant than say a port of call for a ship that's just coming for the day and people are spending maybe half a day to a day in Buffalo. So we're going to look at different scenarios and costs and infrastructure needed for that, as well as at a couple of different locations."
Ranalli says he has been in contact with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) and is discovering possible scenarios for a permanent cruise terminal. They are considering either new construction at the Michigan Pier or potential reconstruction of DL&W Terminal.
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The interest for these Great Lakes cruises have only increased over the last couple years.
"In 2022, nearly 20,000 cruise passengers visited Great Lakes ports and that was a 25 percent increase over 2019," said Patrick Kaler, President and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara. "We have beautiful access to Lake Erie, I think it'll be really spectacular to see these Great Lakes cruise ships come into our destination."
"These cruises are very popular around the Great Lakes, going to places like Mackinac Island. They go to Cleveland, Sault Sainte Marie in Michigan, a lot of different places. The closest one to Buffalo is Port Colborne and there, they take an excursion to go up and see Niagara Falls, so there's no reason why they couldn't add Buffalo to the list and bring some visitors here," said AAA's Elizabeth Carey.
Although these cruises aren't comparable in capacity to cruise ships in the ocean, these lines have ships that carry up to 400 passengers according to Carey. The city could see some serious economic growth if they lines decided to add a stop the Buffalo.
"Upscale groups come on these cruises, because they're more expensive than a traditional ocean cruise. You're talking sometimes $500 a night sometimes you can get something for $400 a night on the cruise. So that can add up to over $5,000 for the cruise. A lot of the people might be retirees or people that are more affluent. They have money to spend when they do come to visit. So it would be good for tourism dollars for people spending as well."
Kaler says the Great Lakes cruises made over 700 different stops in the Great Lakes in 2022.
"It generated $125 million in economic impact total for all of those Great Lakes cruises, and they only see and predict great things going forward. 2023, they're anticipating a 25 percent increase in cruise ship passengers and a 44 percent increase in the overall economic impact. And we would just like to have a piece of that pie."
The feasibility study is expected to finish by the end of March 2024, Kaler foresees a couple years to fix the city's infrastructure to accommodate these ships.