Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Monday, August 04, 2008
Tall ships Duluth’s largest-ever tourist draw
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Duluth tourism officials say the visit of three vintage sailing ships to the city harbor is the city’s largest-ever tourist event.
Officials say on Sunday that the Duluth Maritime Festival has drawn an estimated 125,000 people to the waterfront over three days.
Nearly all of the 25,000 three-day passes to tour the ships had been sold as of noon Sunday. The festival attracted an estimated 75,000 out-of-towners.
Terry Mattson is president of the official tourism group Visit Duluth. He’s estimating the economic impact of the event at more than $10 million.
That puts the Maritime Festival well ahead of Grandma’s Marathon, the Bayfront Blues Festival, the Duluth air show and other major recent events.
Two of the ships — the Madeline and the Pride of Baltimore — are expected to sail out by Monday afternoon. The Niagara is expected to leave late Tuesday.
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