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Thirty-one years ago, Robert Taillefer’s parents started a ferry service on the Ottawa River between Rockland and Thurso that would morph into a successful charter cruise business called Ottawa Boat Cruise.
Now Taillefer’s company is set for decades to come after securing a 42-year lease from Parks Canada to provide sightseeing tours and other services on the Ottawa section of the Rideau Canal starting in 2016.
The 42-year term, which will keep Ottawa Boat Cruise vessels on the Rideau Canal until at least 2058, was the maximum specified in a Parks Canada request for proposals last March that invited bids from companies able to provide multiple services or experiences on the canal.
Parks Canada said it would enter into a long-term lease agreement “for a term commensurate with the type of service and level of investment.”
The agency revealed last week that it had selected Ottawa River Cruise (known as Croisières Outaouais in French) over two other bidders.
“We’re proud to have been selected by Parks Canada,” Taillefer said Tuesday at a celebratory news conference aboard his company’s paddlewheeler, the Ottawa River Queen.
“I’ve been on a boat since I was four years old. It’s my life,” he said. “For us, it’s familiar territory. We’re used to it, and we look forward to the challenge.”
The company plans to have two new electrically propelled vessels, each capable of carrying about 100 passengers, built by a local company for the canal tours. There are two potential builders, but Taillefer wouldn’t identify them.
One of the new boats will be operational next season and the second will come into service in 2017, Taillefer said.
The tours will be similar to the ones provided for 66 years by Paul’s Boat Lines — which didn’t bid on the new contract — except that passengers will be able to get on and off at various points.
Ottawa Boat Cruise has also purchased Paul’s Boat Lines’ Ottawa River operations, including its tour boat, the Paula D. The river tour vessels will be rebranded as “World’s Famous Paul’s Boat Lines,” Taillefer announced.
His company plans to build more connections between its services on the river and the canal. For example, tourists could take a river tour, disembark at the Ottawa Locks, board a canal boat and get off at Lansdowne Park to attend a football game.
The company will offer other services on or along the canal as well, but those are still being negotiated with Parks Canada, Taillefer said.
The two parties are also still negotiating the exact financial terms of the lease, but Taillefer said they would be similar to those spelled out in the RFP, which called for annual payments of $75,000 to Parks Canada or six per cent of revenue, whichever was greater.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
Now Taillefer’s company is set for decades to come after securing a 42-year lease from Parks Canada to provide sightseeing tours and other services on the Ottawa section of the Rideau Canal starting in 2016.
The 42-year term, which will keep Ottawa Boat Cruise vessels on the Rideau Canal until at least 2058, was the maximum specified in a Parks Canada request for proposals last March that invited bids from companies able to provide multiple services or experiences on the canal.
Parks Canada said it would enter into a long-term lease agreement “for a term commensurate with the type of service and level of investment.”
The agency revealed last week that it had selected Ottawa River Cruise (known as Croisières Outaouais in French) over two other bidders.
“We’re proud to have been selected by Parks Canada,” Taillefer said Tuesday at a celebratory news conference aboard his company’s paddlewheeler, the Ottawa River Queen.
“I’ve been on a boat since I was four years old. It’s my life,” he said. “For us, it’s familiar territory. We’re used to it, and we look forward to the challenge.”
The company plans to have two new electrically propelled vessels, each capable of carrying about 100 passengers, built by a local company for the canal tours. There are two potential builders, but Taillefer wouldn’t identify them.
One of the new boats will be operational next season and the second will come into service in 2017, Taillefer said.
The tours will be similar to the ones provided for 66 years by Paul’s Boat Lines — which didn’t bid on the new contract — except that passengers will be able to get on and off at various points.
Ottawa Boat Cruise has also purchased Paul’s Boat Lines’ Ottawa River operations, including its tour boat, the Paula D. The river tour vessels will be rebranded as “World’s Famous Paul’s Boat Lines,” Taillefer announced.
His company plans to build more connections between its services on the river and the canal. For example, tourists could take a river tour, disembark at the Ottawa Locks, board a canal boat and get off at Lansdowne Park to attend a football game.
The company will offer other services on or along the canal as well, but those are still being negotiated with Parks Canada, Taillefer said.
The two parties are also still negotiating the exact financial terms of the lease, but Taillefer said they would be similar to those spelled out in the RFP, which called for annual payments of $75,000 to Parks Canada or six per cent of revenue, whichever was greater.
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
查看原文...
