Launch Strategy PR & Events Paid MediaHarbor Hospitality Relaunched
Harbor Boating
Baltimore’s legacy water taxi operator changed hands weeks before a new season with expanded service lines. We had a month to get ready, then sold out nearly every sailing on its new flagship over the summer.
Baltimore Water Taxi has worked the Inner Harbor since 1975. In early 2026 the company behind it, Harbor Boating, was mid-sale, and marketing stayed on hold until the deal closed.
By then the season was close and the business had grown: water taxi, a harbor trolley, public cruises, private charters, and multiple new boats including a flagship vessel, the Lady Thames.
We compressed a season of preparation into about a month. Clear positioning for every service. A refreshed website. 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.
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.
The launch did more than fill a season. It gave a newly sold company a working marketing engine, with every service positioned, every sale tracked, and a clear read on what to fund next.
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
Nearly every summer sailing on the new flagship sold out ahead of its date
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