Cruise ships helping Halifax port weather downturn, says report

The unstoppable rise of the cruise ship industry was one thing helping the Port of Halifax weather the recession.

The port, which was hit hard when the economy faltered, came out ahead in its big-picture numbers six years later, says a report released this week.

By 2013 the most recent year studied the port was generating $1.66 billion to the Nova Scotia economy. That's five per cent ahead of where it was in 2007 before the downturn.

• Click here to read the Port of Halifax report

Cruise ship traffic was a small part of overall revenues, but it was also one of the most dramatic changes during that time, going up nearly 50 per cent in steady year-over-year increases.

"It doesn't seem to matter what you throw at the cruise industry, it just keeps on going," said Dennis Campbell, CEO of Ambassatours and Murphy's Cable Wharf, both of which benefited from the rise of the cruise ship.

Through the sinking of the Costa Concordia and outbreaks of viruses, people especially Americans on the East Coast kept flocking to cruise ships and Halifax gained more than most.

"Our proximity to New York, in particular, is very much to our advantage," Campbell said. Some passengers have told him it can be more cost effective to cruise to Canada for a week in the heat of summer than to stay home.

Aggressive investments

Much credit goes to the Halifax Port Authority for aggressively investing in cruise attractions, he said.

"Twenty years ago it was pretty embarrassing, actually, when they were getting off at these sheds with pigeons everywhere. It was just not pleasant," said Campbell.

However, Halifax also surged ahead of expectations in ways that aren't obvious from the numbers, he said.

The number of cruise ships calling in 2012 and 2013 was steady at 134, according to the report, but Campbell said the the flat line was an accomplishment. He was bracing for a 30 to 40 per cent predicted drop in 2013 cruise traffic after new environmental regulations were introduced.

One major cruise line, Carnival, did drop most of its Halifax arrivals, but the port found others to replace them and attracted bigger, higher-end ships in the process, said Campbell.

"This coming summer, we've got these very large ships," he said.

The advantages of Halifax's port has helped Holland America make "a commitment" to the East Coast route, adding two ships to it over the last decade,said company spokesman Erik Elvejord.

'Imagine tendering 3,000 people'

The highlight of the cruise is Quebec, which adds to the "Europe next door" marketing, but the city's deep harbour, waterside cultural stops and walkable city are attractive to cruise lines, said Elvejord. By comparison, the Bar Harbour port requires vessels to anchor in the harbour and ferry passengers to shore.

"Imagine tendering 3,000 people," said Elvejord.

"(Halifax has) all of those pieces that cruise lines look for."

The other success story for the port was in cargo shipping, with the Port of Halifax far exceeding growth at other Atlantic ports after an initial dive in 2009.

Container traffic at all Atlantic ports went up 3.8 per cent from 2008 to 2013, but Halifax saw an increase of 14 per cent in containers in the same time, helped by increased trade with Europe and Asia.

"Port-related activity has rebounded from the recession of 2008 and 2009," concluded the report, which was written by consultants.

In 2013, the port created the equivalent of 11,820 full-time jobs.