Page 23 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 2 2024

We’re going to continue working with our stakeholders to make sure we’re meeting their expectations.
I like to say we have four business lines — container, cruise, cargo,
and the fourth is the environment. We’re going to continue to move in a direction that allows an opportunity for transformational change.
Daniels attended the TPM24 industry conference in California in early March, along with other MPA staff and Ports America Chesapeake partners.
QWhat is your vision for the
Port of Baltimore’s future?
We’re going to continue to be aggressive — not only to maintain our position, but to grow. We’re number
1 in autos, number 1 in ro/ro, and through our private terminals, we’re number 1 in gypsum and sugar. We’re looking at ways in which we can fill the space that’s available to us so we can create new opportunities. We have to get creative to be able to do that.
Then there’s the cruise side. Cruising was a significant part of my experience in Port Everglades. That
experience allows us to have access to different brands, including some of the luxury and high-luxury brands that don’t impact the restrictions we have on parking because the customers primarily fly in. And they don’t care whether it’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or a weekend day — their demographic tends to be retired. They just want a good cruise product through an easy-to-access terminal.
We really want to determine how we fit into the hospitality and tourism sector in the Greater Baltimore area. In our messaging, it’s really about what we have here as a community that makes us appealing.
Last year, we had 444,000 cruise passengers and 109 voyages. We have half a million cruise passengers right
in our sights, but we’re going to have to utilize the terminal in different ways to maximize passenger throughput. But what restricts us oftentimes also makes us more appealing — we’re offering the brands a different cruise experience where their guests can do more and cruise more in Baltimore.” 
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