Sorry if this has been posted before, but I haven't seen it. I think it's a great resource for recreational boaters.
IntraCoastal Waterway Cruisers No Longer Lost at Sea
Wednesday May 10, 9:30 am ET
CHARLESTON, S.C., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 13,000 recreational boaters annually are using the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) as a pathway to leisure travel, but until now, they had no simple way to plan their shore excursions. You might say they were lost at sea until www.CruisingTheICW.com - - a new planning resource that provides cruisers with information about marinas, destinations, restaurants, attractions, and other travel-related suppliers -- came online May 1.
"I captain a 61-foot Hatteras and 90-foot custom yacht that travel the ICW. I also own a dry cleaning company that provides one-day pickup and delivery service to marinas. Before this new website came online, cruisers had to carry the waterway guide and travel guides for every destination as well as look at multiple websites in order to plan effectively and find services like mine," says 100-ton Master Captain Lucas Smith, owner of Pelican Cleaners on the Isle of Palms, SC. "And it was really hard to find information on smaller destinations."
"In recent years more publications have begun including stories on ICW destinations, but no one has connected the destinations in a way to help simplify the search process for cruisers' planning of ICW trips," says Dick Trammell, president of The Travel and Tourism Development Group, Charleston, SC. "With more cruisers traveling with computers and more marinas providing high-speed Internet access, it simply makes sense to provide them a comprehensive, yet fast loading, easy to navigate website everyone onboard can enjoy using."
So, Trammell developed his Thinking Outside the Boat concept that drives the new website. According to Trammell, this site complements, rather than competes with existing guide and chart books about the Intracoastal Waterways from Key West to Canada.
"Our destination and marina pages are designed to give cruisers and boaters more local information of importance to them than most destination and marina websites," Trammell adds. "We are literally giving them the information they have told us they want. Many coastal communities are investing in waterfront redevelopment, but continuing to ignore the cruiser and leisure boat market. It is a growing market with disposable income, discretionary time, and an appreciation for the history and ambiance that most coastal and Intracoastal communities have to offer."
A recreational boater himself who found ICW travel planning resources lacking, Trammell decided to use his background in destination marketing to connect ICW destinations, marinas, and suppliers, and the boater just as the ICW connects coastal destinations. www.CruisingTheICW.com provides a cost- effective way to keep destinations and cruising-related businesses in front of cruisers no matter where or when they are planning their trip activities.
Source: The Travel and Tourism Development Group, Ltd
IntraCoastal Waterway Cruisers No Longer Lost at Sea
Wednesday May 10, 9:30 am ET
CHARLESTON, S.C., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 13,000 recreational boaters annually are using the IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW) as a pathway to leisure travel, but until now, they had no simple way to plan their shore excursions. You might say they were lost at sea until www.CruisingTheICW.com - - a new planning resource that provides cruisers with information about marinas, destinations, restaurants, attractions, and other travel-related suppliers -- came online May 1.
"I captain a 61-foot Hatteras and 90-foot custom yacht that travel the ICW. I also own a dry cleaning company that provides one-day pickup and delivery service to marinas. Before this new website came online, cruisers had to carry the waterway guide and travel guides for every destination as well as look at multiple websites in order to plan effectively and find services like mine," says 100-ton Master Captain Lucas Smith, owner of Pelican Cleaners on the Isle of Palms, SC. "And it was really hard to find information on smaller destinations."
"In recent years more publications have begun including stories on ICW destinations, but no one has connected the destinations in a way to help simplify the search process for cruisers' planning of ICW trips," says Dick Trammell, president of The Travel and Tourism Development Group, Charleston, SC. "With more cruisers traveling with computers and more marinas providing high-speed Internet access, it simply makes sense to provide them a comprehensive, yet fast loading, easy to navigate website everyone onboard can enjoy using."
So, Trammell developed his Thinking Outside the Boat concept that drives the new website. According to Trammell, this site complements, rather than competes with existing guide and chart books about the Intracoastal Waterways from Key West to Canada.
"Our destination and marina pages are designed to give cruisers and boaters more local information of importance to them than most destination and marina websites," Trammell adds. "We are literally giving them the information they have told us they want. Many coastal communities are investing in waterfront redevelopment, but continuing to ignore the cruiser and leisure boat market. It is a growing market with disposable income, discretionary time, and an appreciation for the history and ambiance that most coastal and Intracoastal communities have to offer."
A recreational boater himself who found ICW travel planning resources lacking, Trammell decided to use his background in destination marketing to connect ICW destinations, marinas, and suppliers, and the boater just as the ICW connects coastal destinations. www.CruisingTheICW.com provides a cost- effective way to keep destinations and cruising-related businesses in front of cruisers no matter where or when they are planning their trip activities.
Source: The Travel and Tourism Development Group, Ltd