Aquila shared the region with over 70,000 passengers this season!

With the last ship sailing last evening back to safe waters, Aquila says goodbye to another great cruise season.  At a “1980s Party” with its team of 60-plus guides and pierside staff, Aquila ended the 2012 season with a celebration that also recognized the company’s 30 years in business. This year marked a million guests on tours over the years for Aquila and the impact locally on small businesses from these passengers is incredible. Although some of the tour experiences take guests all the way to Hopewell Rocks, 80% of passengers are on tours of about two hours, leaving them lots of time to experience on their own. The cruise industry brings over $30 Million annually in economic spinoffs to the Saint John and Southern New Brunswick economy.

Aquila has gained a lot of experience over the last 30 years, and today is sharing that knowledge with tour operators and tour guides around the world.  Aquila's Center for Cruise Excellence was launched five years ago and today tour operators and hundreds of tour guides from places far and wide have taken advantage of Aquila’s knowledge, as well as their online International Certification and training program.

Aquila’s President, Beth Kelly Hatt, has travelled extensively over the last few months to destinations such as Guatemala, Aruba, Curaçao and Puerto Rico to share its knowledge and Best Practices with local tour operators and stakeholders in those ports. 2012 has been a tremendous year for Aquila, both locally and internationally.  Aquila’s certifications and designations have been endorsed by the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association and Aquila continues to be used as a model of excellence throughout the cruise industry around the world.

A Tour Operator in Saint John since 1982, Aquila has provided a wide range of experiences for its guests over the past 30 years – on local city tours for convention and event delegates, on group tours around the world – but the vast majority of their guests have been on shore excursions of Saint John and the Bay of Fundy from visiting cruise ships. With the growth of the cruise industry in Saint John, today Aquila’s business is solely focused on cruise, providing shore excursions in Saint John, as well as offering training and certification for Tour Guides and Tour Operators in the cruise industry in other parts of world. Through Aquila’s Center for Cruise Excellence, these offerings include training programs in the areas of Tour Operator Excellence, Tour Guide Excellence, and Port Excellence, all designed to help the key players in cruise destinations around the world achieve excellence in their ports, tours, guides and businesses.