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THUNDER BAY — The 17 cruise ship visits expected in Thunder Bay this summer bodes well for local businesses, especially those that directly cater to the passengers.
Embark Port Services, an affiliate of Maintair Aviation Services Ltd., started in 2022. The division augmented its airline services to include transportation for cruise ship passengers to and from the Thunder Bay International Airport and attraction destinations, complete with check-in and disembarking services.
Maintair co-owner Sean Davies said Embark Port Services is enthusiastic about the cruising growth on the horizon and is making plans to accommodate the influx of new ship arrivals and passenger needs.
"We will be adding more staff for this summer, and that in turn, allows us to grow our partnerships with our local suppliers," he said.
"We're going to need more buses and more English and French bilingual tour guides this summer because of the French cruise line Ponant Explorers coming here."
Davies noted that there is a shortage of the number of airline seats in and out of Thunder Bay, which he says is the result of pilot and aircraft shortages. To offset these challenges, Viking Cruises has chartered airplanes to bring the guests into the city a few days before the ship turnaround.
"Those are people that are going to stay in a hotel and go out and spend some money on dinner, shopping and take in some tours before boarding the cruise," he said.
"Last year, the guests flew in on regular scheduled flights, boarded the ship and took off."
Davies said Embark relies on partnerships it has formed with local coaches and busing providers to transport passengers.
"Because this is a seasonal business and there, there is capacity within the city to be able to provide that transportation support, I would much rather support a local (bus) firm versus buying coaches that only work for a few months of the year," he said. "This works great for us and it works great for the coach companies as well."
Embark provides a secure check-in process for passengers boarding or disembarking the ships for alternate travels.
"We were doing the check-ins during the ship turnarounds at the Delta Hotel, and we're moving that right to the dock this year," he said, adding that plans are in the works for a possible semi-permanent structure right on the dock to enhance the guests' experience where they can to go from the airport straight to the ship.
"The goal is have a permanent structure there eventually and that's something that we have to collaborate with Tourism Thunder Bay and the City of Thunder Bay to get a longer-term plan, which is a part of the whole waterfront — Pool Six development plan," he said.
Embark also coordinates destination tours, including Silver Islet, for cruise passengers. This year, the arrival of Ponant Explorers' Le Champlain engages a new bilingual side of the operation.
"We have to hire multilingual staff to be able to do tours to maintain the gold standard of tourism Thunder Bay, so that's new for us," said Davies, adding the Silver Islet hiking and walking tours have been expanded to accommodate the increase of tourists at the request of the cruise ship companies.
"We'll have more tours and more people available because of the additional ships, and in general it looks like it's going to be, it's a very busy year this year."
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
