Traverse City MI (Michigan)

Traverse City is a Lake Michigan cruise port and city in the USA's Michigan state (Grand Traverse County) with population around 15,000 (metro around 145,000). The 2004-opened Cherry Capital Airport is Michigan's 4th-largest and serves regularly scheduled flights linking to Chicago and Detroit. Seasonal flights connect to Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth), Minnesota (Minneapolis-Saint Paul), New York (NYC), New Jersey (Newark), Georgia (Atlanta), Colorado (Denver).

The last native American settlement (Wequetong) was in the area currently occupied by Clinch Park (downtown). The village was established by French colonists in the 18th-century and named after Grand Traverse Bay's long crossing (between Norwood and Northport). The area was initially owned by France, then Great Britain and after 1776 - by the USA. The first permanent settlement (Grand Traverse) was founded in 1839 and incorporated as a city in 1895. In the late-19th century, Traverse City was connected via railroads with villages in Southern Michigan. The trains served mainly lumber companies transporting logs from Northwest Michigan to the sawmills in Traverse City.

The city's current economy is based on tourism, insurance (Hagerty), healthcare (Munson Medical Center, Grand Traverse Pavilions), education (Northwestern Michigan College/Great Lakes Maritime Academy, Interlochen Center for the Arts), food processing (Tyson Foods Inc). The surrounding region is the USA's largest producer of tart cherries (Prunus cerasus). Near the harvest time (July's first full week), in downtown is hosted the National Cherry Festival which attracts ~0,5 million visitors. The region also produces grapes and wines. The tourism industry benefits from popular attractions like premium beaches, National Lakeshore (one of the USA's all 10 protected areas), vineyards, skiing, hiking, camping.

As cruise port, Traverse City was included in the 2021 schedule of Hapag Lloyd Cruises with the ship Hanseatic Inspiration (2019-built). Next table shows the 14-day itinerary from Chicago to Toronto.

In 2022, Viking Cruises USA (via the brand Viking Expeditions) starts a Great Lakes seasonal program. The ship deployment is for one-way itineraries (between homeports Toronto, Thunder Bay and Milwaukee) and includes regular visits to ports and destinations in Canada's Ontario state (Thunder Bay, Toronto, Welland Canal, Niagara Falls, Point Pelee NP) and the USA's Minnesota-Michigan-Wisconsin states (Detroit MI, Alpena MI, Mackinac Island MI in Lake Huron, Apostle Islands MI, Houghton MI, Traverse City MI, Milwaukee WI on Lake Michigan, Duluth MN).

All Viking Great Lakes cruises feature passing through Soo Locks at Sault Ste Marie (Lake Superior - Lake Huron transition). The 8-day voyages are themed "Niagara and the Great Lakes" (from Toronto to Milwaukee), "Undiscovered Great Lakes" (from Thunder Bay to Milwaukee) and "Great Lakes Explorer" (from Milwaukee to Thunder Bay).