Hotels Ride Successful Waves of Tall Ships

Area hotels have been booked for about a year. Finding a room for the festival might not be easy.

It’s estimated that the Tall Ships Festival will attract up to 300,000 visitors and $15 million.

Area hotels have said they’ve been booked for this weekend for about a year. If you’re still looking for a room, you might pay a pretty penny.

Matt came from Redwood Falls to see the Tall Ships Festival with his family. He said the event is the culminating event for their vacation.

He began looking for a place to stay in March and found some good hotel rates in Superior.

“That’s one of the things we work on is bridging the gap even though we’re just over the bridge it’s only an eight minute drive to Canal Park,” said Nikki Anderson, the general manager of the Bridgeview Best Western in Superior.

While the ships will go under the lift bridge, business has crossed the Bong and Blatnik bridges.

“There have been a lot of people from all over the place that want to see something new, the big rubber duck. This year was a very big deal. It actually drew a lot of attention. Tall Ships has as well but this is just something that’s a different experience that they don’t just get anywhere,” said Anderson.

Some hotels have even been charging rates for rooms that cost more than in New York City.

“It’s not exotic but it’s still fun for us. We love it,” said Matt.

For a list of area hotels that might still have vacancies, head to:

http://www.visitduluth.com/lodging/availability/tall-ships/