THUNDER BAY – The number of cruise ships coming to the city will decrease again this year, but Paul Pepe, manager of tourism, says that’s the nature of the industry.
Despite the lull in cruise ship traffic, tourism revenues were still strong last year, according to Pepe, who provided council with an overview of tourism’s impact on the city last year at Tuesday’s meeting.
There are 10 all-day visits scheduled in 2026, down from 13 in 2025, said Pepe, in response to a question from Coun. Brian Hamilton about the upcoming cruise ship season.
“It dropped a little bit from 13 last year. And it’s really just the cyclical nature of the expedition and discovery cruise market. They have very loyal clientele. They are always looking for new destinations, and they’re always mixing up their itineraries. So, this is something we’ve known, you know, to expect that some years will be stronger than others,” he said.
The 13 ships that made port in 2025, including three turnarounds and 10 day stops, brought 4,850 visitors and $3.2 million to the community.
Pepe said the 10 ships coming this year will perform ancillary services here, which are typically reserved for a turnaround port, where vessels restock their food and remove their waste.
The city made just under $20 million from tourism events last year, according to Pepe. The leading driver for that economic impact is from growth in the sport and business event tourism.
A total of 23 significant sports events were hosted in Thunder Bay, which generated about 23,000 hotel room stays, Pepe said.
“It has a major impact in terms of growing the sport and business events sector. Leisure is cyclical in the community. It’s very strong summer months. Typically, fall, winter tends to slow down, and that’s where the sport and business sectors are really important for us in terms of growing the capacity and filling hotel rooms,” he said.
Hotels in the city are expensive, Hamilton said, asking how an increase in competition affects the hotel market.
“Thunder Bay does employ a higher than average occupancy rate, and we’ve seen the growth in the average daily rate as well. So, you know, it’s all based on supply and demand. So, typically when a new property enters the market, you know, you’ll see prices level out,” Pepe said.
Last year, the Municipal Accommodation Tax generated just over $5 million for the city, with the Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) taking its share of $2.5 million.
Coun. Andrew Foulds asked how much of that money is from local people on a staycation versus new money coming into the city.
“We’re not able to break it down, staycation versus out-of-town visitors, but from the data that we (have), when we fund programs, and we fund events, for example, they have to provide us their hotel data. And so that’s what we’re able to track the direct investments from the fund to the events we support, but beyond that, we don’t have an idea of the breakdown,” Pepe said.
Foulds said that he suspects the vast majority is new money into the municipality, and the CEDC share is leveraging almost $20 million of economic development.
Pepe said the money is a return on investment.
“I think citizens need to know that, in fact, they’re not paying for that largely. I mean, some people have staycations, but that is new money spinning around in our community, providing jobs,” Foulds said. “So, congratulations on that and the work that you’re doing.”
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Apr 24, 2026 at 11:43
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