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The reopening of the Welland Canal means cruise ships will soon return to Port Colborne, and a group of local guides are excited to show their city to the nautical visitors.
This year, Port Colborne will welcome more than 70 cruise ship visits from Viking, Victory, Pearl Seas, and Ponant between April 23 and October 27. A 30 per cent increase in visits is being seen in all Great Lakes ports, with more than 700 total visits this year and a $230-million economic impact to the Great Lakes region as a whole.
While all of the 17,000 cruise passengers transiting the Welland Canal will be able to see Port Colborne from their ships, those on Viking, Victory and Pearl Seas cruises will have the option of easily exiting the ship to take a guided tour of the city.
For guide Ann McLaughlin, part of the fun of sharing her city with visitors is introducing them to local residents while taking in the sites and sounds of Port Colborne.
"My favourite part of being a tour guide is how friendly all the local people are,” she said. “Everyone greets the visitors, often wishing them a good visit, and telling them how much they enjoy seeing the ships from West Street too.”
With guides walking groups through town before stopping at the City’s Historical and Marine Museum, guide Mike Raymond likes to weave a history lesson into his tour.
“As a geographer, it excites me to teach the visitors a lesson on the physical landscape features of the Niagara peninsula that influenced the settlement of people in Port Colborne,” he said.
Each guide has received a three-hour training session with walk-through practice activities to prepare them for cruise season. The guided tour program began in 2024 and will expand this year.
Greg Higginbotham, Port Colborne’s Tourism Co-ordinator, said the cruise lines are in full support of what the City is doing to make Port Colborne more accessible for passengers.
“They see the value in highlighting Port Colborne as a unique part of the overall Niagara experience, and the benefits continue to flow through the community season after season,” he said. “The steady stream of positive feedback from the cruise lines and their passengers is a reflection of all the businesses and residents who have helped make Port Colborne a memorable port of call."
More information about cruise ships visiting Port Colborne can be found at Portcolborne.ca/cruiseships
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