Dinner cruises on the Hudson River from Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie are scheduled to set sail in the spring aboard the 60-foot Mystére.
The boat, which can carry 88 passengers and three crew members, is moving operations from the Erie Canal near Syracuse to seek a bigger market. And Jeffrey Pyle, captain and CEO of Empire Cruise Lines, is also coming home to what he sees as a burgeoning opportunity.
“We hope to draw a lot of people from Poughkeepsie, because when you combine everything going on around the waterfront, with the Walkway and the children”™s museum and us coming in, it”™s creating a critical mass for a rebirth on the riverfront,” said Pyle, who grew up in the town of Poughkeepsie and runs the family owned business with his wife and brother.
The Poughkeepsie Common Council approved an agreement Nov. 1 allowing the Mystére to use the city dock at Waryas Park, in a 10-year license agreement with Empire Cruise Lines. Poughkeepsie will receive $2,500 per year in docking fees and sees the dinner cruise as another pearl in a string of attractions along the waterfront.
“I think this is absolutely fantastic,” Mayor John Tkazyik said.
Pyle said they decided on moving to Poughkeepsie after searching for locales along the East Coast and Northeast.
“We have kind of outgrown the market up here,” he said, referring to Syracuse. He contacted various cities and “Poughkeepsie, honestly, was the most proactive in working with us ”¦ That is critical because you have to have support in your home community to be successful.”
Cruises will run from May to November, with the two-hour trips costing between $15 to $18 per person. Pyle said the company would likely employ about 25 workers per season and plans to build a small office in Waryas Park and eventually hopes to build a new dock.
“It”™s really great,” said Mary Kay Vrba, Dutchess County tourism director. “This is an area of the river where we don”™t have a sightseeing cruise every day, so it will round out the package of attractions. And it gives us another way to work with Metro-North to create package tours. So it”™s a win-win for everyone.”
Pyle said that part of his business plan is to collectively market the region and its attractions, including its restaurants. He said the restaurants that cater his cruises are carefully selected and many reported upsurges in business on shore from people who first ate their fare onboard the boat. He expects the same sort of synergy in the Hudson Valley.
“In the area we currently call our home port, we have brought in thousands of people from all over the Northeast who come to a little hamlet for no other reason than to come on board,” Pyle said. “So when you consider marketing the entire Hudson Valley and having the focal point becoming Poughkeepsie, it”™s pretty intriguing.”
