Launch Strategy Website PR & Events Paid MediaHarbor Hospitality Relaunched
Harbor Boating, Inc.
The company behind Baltimore’s water taxi, trolley, cruises, and charters changed hands weeks before the season, with new boats and new services to launch. We had a month to get ready. By midsummer, the new flagship’s biggest sailings were selling out days ahead.
Baltimore Water Taxi has worked the Inner Harbor since 1975. In early 2026 the company behind it, Harbor Boating, Inc., was mid-sale, and marketing stayed on hold until the deal closed.
By then the season was close and the company had grown well beyond the water taxi, with multiple new boats including a flagship vessel, the Lady Thames. Today Harbor Boating, Inc. runs:
Baltimore Water Taxi: on-demand rides across the harbor
Baltimore Water Trolley: scheduled hop-on, hop-off routes around the Inner and Outer Harbor
Baltimore Water Cruises: ticketed public cruises, from Sunday brunch to Wednesdays on the Water aboard the Lady Thames
Baltimore Water Charters: private charters for corporate events, weddings, nonprofits, and celebrations
Harbor Connector: the free, City-supported water transit service it operates under contract
Commercial Maritime Services: vessel management, operations, and maintenance for commercial clients
We compressed a season of preparation into about a month. Clear positioning for every service. A redesigned website with new pages for the trolley, cruises, and charters, each connected to FareHarbor so guests could book directly. Print, signage, and sales collateral. Paid campaigns ready the week the boats were.
We led PR around the new season and the expanded services, earning broadcast, print, and radio coverage. To introduce the Lady Thames to the people who book Baltimore’s events, we built Hospitality Night, an invitation-only evening aboard the vessel with its own invitations, landing page, and RSVP flow. Most of the region’s event planners were in the room.
Several of the flagship’s event sailings sold out ahead of their dates, one fast enough that we added a second sailing, which sold out in two days. Across the summer event cruises, paid media returned 11x, and every paid channel beat travel and hospitality benchmarks.
When recurring sailings began, the first sailing of a new Sunday cruise series sold out too, with no event behind it and no existing search demand.
Behind the results was a measurement foundation built for a growing business. We optimized the existing conversion tracking across the website and ticketing, filled the gaps that were letting sales go unrecorded, and established retargeting audiences that carried from one sailing to the next.
Ad platform, analytics, and booking data were reconciled sailing by sailing, giving leadership a clear view of what was driving sales.
Next for 2027: a full rebrand, redeveloped websites, and an expanded marketing program across every service.
Key Outcomes
Launch-ready in about a month after the ownership change closed
New service pages launched and connected to online ticketing
Sold out the new flagship’s biggest midsummer sailings days ahead
11x return on ad spend across summer event cruises
Every paid channel beat travel and hospitality benchmarks
Demand added a second sailing, which sold out in two days
The first sailing of a new Sunday cruise series sold out
Broadcast, print, and radio coverage for the new season
Hospitality Night drew most of the region’s event planners aboard the Lady Thames
Conversion tracking optimized and retargeting audiences established across every sailing
