Tall ships become Duluth's largest tourist draw ever

DULUTH, MN -- Duluth tourism officials say the visit of three vintage sailing ships to the city harbor is the city's largest-ever tourist event. Officials say on Sunday that the Duluth Maritime Festival has drawn an estimated 125,000 people to the waterfront over three days. Nearly all of the 25,000 three-day passes to tour the ships had been sold as of noon Sunday. The festival attracted an estimated 75,000 out-of-towners. Terry Mattson is president of the official tourism group Visit Duluth. He's estimating the economic impact of the event at more than $10 million. That puts the Maritime Festival well ahead of Grandma's Marathon, the Bayfront Blues Festival, the Duluth air show and other major recent events. Two of the ships -- the Madeline and the Pride of Baltimore -- are expected to sail out by Monday afternoon. The... [read full story]