Canadian expedition cruise company Maple Leaf Adventures is in talks with Australian tour operators as it seeks to promote its product in the local market. Speaking with Cruise Weekly last month in Niagara Falls at the Rendez-vous Canada trade show, marketing & sales manager/ co-owner Maureen Gordon said the company...
Canadian expedition cruise
company Maple Leaf Adventures
is in talks with Australian tour
operators as it seeks to promote
its product in the local market.
Speaking with Cruise Weekly
last month in Niagara Falls at the
Rendez-vous Canada trade show,
marketing & sales manager/
co-owner Maureen Gordon said
the company remains relatively
unknown in Australia.
The soft adventure firm owns
two small vessels that it operates
in the serene waters along the
coast of British Columbia, visiting
hard to access locations including
Queen Charlotte Islands and the
Great Bear Rainforest.
Other parts of BC the company
operates include Vancouver
Island’s Inside Passage, Gulf
Island National Park and Salish
Sea/Broughton Archipelago.
“Maple Leaf Adventures journeys
are like safaris by water,” Gordon
told CW, enabling customers to
get up close to “thousands and
thousands of islands and dozens
& dozens of fjords, which remain
inaccessible to passengers on
large ships”.
The company specialises in
getting guests up close to wildlife,
including the rare Spirit Bear, with its voyages typically ranging from
6 to 12 days duration.
“Most of the British Columbia
coastline is un-roaded and wild.
“We cruise around, drop anchor,
go ashore for explorations to
UNESCO World Heritage Sites,
returning to our vessel in quiet
inlets where we stay overnight.”
Its vessels include the 92-foot
schooner SV Maple Leaf – the
oldest tall ship sailing in British
Columbia – and the 88-foot MV
Swell, a 103yo converted tugboat.
The firm also charters another
sailing ship which has a “historical
element” of its own, Gordon said.
Aimed towards independent
cruisers, very small groups and
experiential travellers, the vessels
accommodate a maximum of ten
passengers each.
“Our product is not aimed at
low-budget travellers or people
who get uncomfortable in raingear
and gumboots,” Gordon
explained to Cruise Weekly.
Each has lounges, libraries,
an open wheelhouse lounge,
deck space, expedition boats for
excursions and onboard chefs.
Itineraries operate from coastal
towns easily accessible from
Vancouver Airport.
Included in the cruise price are
shore excursions, admission fees,
services of guides, naturalists and
special guests, gourmet meals,
snacks, beverages including beer
& wine and use of equipment
such as kayaks – more details at
www.mapleleafadventures.com.
Maple Leaf Adventures offers
travel agent commission on sales
& can be contacted by email at
info@mapleleafadventures.com.
