Surprise! The Port Congestion Helps U.S.’s Tourism Grow

Due to the supply-chain crisis, there are increasingly more retailers placing orders in advance to welcome the coming holiday season. As a result, the port congestion problems have become worse. For instance, stacks of containers still pile up on the dock, and container ships queue for days waiting for berthing.

However, surprisingly, this situation attracts many tourists to see the parade of gigantic cargo ships coming in and out at the port of Savannah.

To be more specific, the port of Savannah is the fourth busiest seaport in the United States and vessels all navigate the Savannah River waiting for discharge. Joseph Marinelli, president of Visit Savannah, observed that visitors came to Savannah just trying to see the backlog of container ships in person. Furthermore, he also felt astonished that the shipping business had a massive impact on tourism. It’s now still hard to measure the benefits of the rise of tourism, but restaurants, hotels near the port have already received more orders and revenues over the past few months. Moreover, on the Visit Savannah website, “stroll along Savannah’s waterfront” is listed as one of “16 can’t miss things to do in Savannah”, and these gargantuan ships definitely fascinate more people to visit this place.

“This is mainly because it’s just like having a live IMAX theatre right in front of you,” Marinelli said.

“You can be so close to those mammoth container ships, it even feels like you can reach out and touch them.” 

Since the port congestion problem may still be going on for the following months, the increase in tourism may contribute to the economy and development in the U.S., little offsetting the supply-chain chaos.

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