b'FOGHORN FOCUSOne of the most successful specialty cruises that Portland Spirit Cruises offers is their Wine on the Water Cruise. During the two-hour voyage, guests enjoy samples from local wineries and receive a souvenir glass to take home. Operating in the Pacific Northwest since 1994, Portlandgrades. The event even garnered a live TV segment and Spirit has a fleet of four vessels serving the greater Portlanddedicated articles through earned media, further boost-region.Ourtargetdemographictypicallyskewsfemale,ing its visibility. This success underscored the power of aged 25 to 54. However, certain cruises appeal to specificcollaboration and the appeal of offering a unique, val-segmentsfor example, our lunch cruises attract an old- ue-packed experience.er demographic, while brunch cruises tend to draw more families and millennials. In the shoulder months of May and October, when filling midweek slots can be challenging, we introduced an all-Unlike destinations heavily reliant on tourists, the majori- day cruise from Portland to Astoria. This 120-mile jour-ty of our audience is local. This presents both a challengeney along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers featured and an opportunity: we need to continuously create newnarration about Lewis and Clark, three onboard meals, experiences to entice repeat customers while also attractingand return bus transportation. The historical theme reso-niche audiences. Specialty cruises, for us, have become anated strongly with our audience, including several senior cornerstone for filling seats during shoulder seasons andcenters and tour operators. Individual tickets for the two quieter time slots. scheduled cruises sold out within 24 hours following a single email blast to our customer base. Over the course of One of our most successful ventures in recent years hasthe two cruises, we welcomed 427 passengers and created been the Wine on Water Cruise, first introduced in 2023.anopportunityforourcrewtoformmeaningfulcon-This event offered wine tastings from local wineries on anectionswithlong-timecustomers.Beyondsupporting two-hour springtime cruise, with guests enjoying 12 sam- the bottom line, this cruise attracted additional positive ples and a souvenir wine glass. By partnering with localpublicity and provided a fresh experience for those who wineries and distributors, we were able to minimize costs.had cruised with us before.The wineries participated for free as the cruise provided an opportunity to promote their tasting rooms and dis- Sometimes, the key to success lies in catering to niche in-PHOTOS: GABE PARTIPILOtributed wines. The response was overwhelming: ticketsterests. Our Bigfoot Adventure Cruise began as an effort for both cruises sold out in less than a week, attractingto rejuvenate offerings on the Explorer Jetboat, a 35-pas-493 guests and generating an additional 157 ticket up- sengervessel.PartneringwithCliffBarackman,starof FOGHORN 14'