Cruise Line Plans to Increase Day Trip Tours to Nyack

Rockland Daily Staff 

Tourism may be booming for the Village of Nyack as next year's Hudson River Cruises will have more day trip tours to the Village of Nyack. 

The eight-day cruise, operated by American Cruise Line, happened upon this idea after a COVID cancellation forced them to find other plans. 

Robert Yonskie, owner of YES Tours NYC and subcontractor with American Cruise Lines, came up with this idea. 

"Some of our tours shut down for COVID, and we were looking to find and create new tours in the Hudson region," explained Yonskie. "We wanted to find ports that would offer local shops and restaurants, as well as history and local culture."

Much to the fortune of the Village of Nyack, the new day trip was a success. According to Yonskie, "Nyack was a hit. It was a well-received port-of-call. It's charming, filled with history, as well as shops and restaurants."

"This has been quite a game changer for Nyack," said Thomas Schneck, president of Visit Nyack, a nonprofit that raises money to promote the Village. "We are looking for a sustainable, programmatic approach to attracting tourists so that we are not dependent on street fairs and festivals. We know that Nyack and Rockland have a ton to offer, but they have to be packaged in the right way. We have raw assets that are attractive to tour operators."

According to Tina Traster from Rockland County Business Journal, there are plans to put Nyack into the schedule of future Hudson River cruises. The number of tours for next September will likely double to more than thirty. The cruise line is planning to run cruises in the autumn and in June of 2024.

This increase in tourism is good news for Rockland County. As per the Rockland County Business Journal, if not for tourism and local taxes, the average household in the county would have to pay an extra $422 in property taxes each year to maintain current services.

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