Chicago Tribune

'It was set to be a record year': Great Lakes cruise operators buckle up for a rough season in wake of the pandemic

May typically marks the start of the season for cruise vacations on the Great Lakes, a burgeoning segment of the market that was shaping up to have a banner year in 2020.

Until the pandemic turned the tourism industry on its head, buzz had been building about Great Lakes cruises - and so had business.

The magazine Travel + Leisure dubbed the Great Lakes one of the world's top 50 spots to visit this year, crediting much of the kudos to the region's growing cruise offerings. The number of port calls was expected to be way up in 2020, with 11 ships making an estimated 950 stops at dozens of docks from Chicago to Montreal. That's compared with nine ships and 520 port calls in 2019, according to the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition.

"Now, it's all come to a screeching halt," said Stephen Burnett, executive director of the

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