how George Mitchell brought the cruise INDUSTRY to Galveston
 

Once upon a time, Galveston was the mightiest port in the entire Caribbean.  Then came the Great Storm in 1900.  Then came the Houston Ship Channel 1915.  Eclipsed in the shadow of a mighty city, for 100 years Galveston's value as a deepwater port remained dormant.  Things would have stayed that way if not for the extraordinary effort of one man. 

In the early 1980s, George Mitchell envisioned Galveston as a port for cruise ships.  For several years Mitchell pursued this goal only to be met with obstacles, apathy and lack of cooperation.  He could not get anyone to listen.  Carnival Cruise Line was not interested and Galveston's Port Authority had given up asking them to reconsider.  Although he was very frustrated, Mitchell was undaunted in his vision that the cruise industry would do well in Galveston.  Taking matters into his own hands, he bypassed the city managers and approached Carnival on his own. 

According to Douglas Matthews, former city manager of Galveston, over the years George Mitchell had contributed millions of dollars into his many projects on Galveston Island.  One would think this generosity would buy Mitchell a million dollars worth of credibility, but apparently not.  Matthews recalled how Mitchell fought the Galveston City Council and the Wharves Board over his request to build a cruise ship terminal plus a $750,000 cruise ship walkover in the late 1980s.  The walkover would connect nearby hotels to the cruise ship terminal.  By crossing Harborside, the busy street below, hotel guests could dodge traffic while wheeling their luggage to the ship.  Mitchell thought the walkover was important, but no one agreed.

So what was the problem?  Here is how Matthews explained it. 

"The critics just couldn't see it.  They labeled George's walkover idea as the 'Walkway to Nowhere.'  To them, it was a pie in the sky daydream.  Thank goodness George had the vision to persist.  In defense of the obstinate officials, this cruise project was a huge, costly gamble.  Galveston would need to build an expensive cruise terminal without any guarantee the cruise ships would come.  Given that the city's economy had been in dry docks ever since the Texas Rangers ran Sam Maceo out of town, no city official had the courage to do it.  It was beyond their imagination, far too risky.  For one thing, no one was banging on the doors begging to take a Galveston cruise trip.  They interpreted this to mean there was no cruise market in Texas.  So the Port Authority officials said no.  George blew his top.  Fortunately he had the sense to wait till we were alone to explode. 

Speaking out of earshot, George said, 'Damn it, Doug, if they're not going to do it, then I'm going to do it myself!" 

400 YARDS:

THE 'walkway to nowhere' controversy
 

Rick Archer's Note: 

George Mitchell began his pursuit of the cruise industry in 1985.  He made his big pitch in 1990, got final approval in 1992, then began an 8-year promotional campaign.  Finally the big day arrived.  On September 30, 2000, a Carnival cruise ship named Celebration made her inaugural voyage out of Galveston.  The project was an instant success.  Texans flocked to Galveston in droves.  In hindsight, it all seems so obvious.  Galveston was the closest seaport to Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and the entire Midwest.  Practically overnight Galveston became the fourth busiest cruise port in the country.  This happened because George Mitchell was able to see things that other people missed.  Galveston was back on the world map and its hotel industry was back in business.

During George Mitchell's quest, he eventually got his way regarding the controversial 'Walking to Nowhere'.  On a personal note, I have taken 20 cruise trips that departed from Galveston.  Due to my keen interest in George Mitchell, I decided to investigate why the 'Cruise Ship Walkover' was so important to him.   

To me, the most interesting part of the Galveston cruise ship story is how hard Mr. Mitchell had to work to make it happen.  According to Doug Matthews, George Mitchell nearly lost his mind due to his impatience with the Galveston Port Authority over their refusal to approve his $750,000 "Walkway to Nowhere".  According to Matthews, former city manager, over the years George Mitchell had grown sick of beating his head against the wall with the Galveston City Council and Wharves Board.  The most bitter fight took place in the late 1980s over his request to build a $750,000 cruise ship "Walkover". 

Curious to understand why this Walkway was so important to Mr. Mitchell, I searched the Internet in vain for an explanation.  Frustrated, I decided to speculate on my own.  I decided it all boiled down to 400 yards.  This was the distance it took for a tourist to walk from the Hotel Galvez to Sam Maceo's Balinese Room.  I imagine this distance held powerful symbolism in George Mitchell's mind.

Following the Great Storm of 1900, Galveston had no choice but to finally begin the long-delayed seawall project.  Watching helplessly as Houston ripped the shipping industry from its grasp, Galveston's leaders decided to use their beautiful beach to attract tourism.  Crossing their fingers, they approved construction of the Hotel Galvez.  It was completed in 1911.  Unfortunately the gamble failed.  Not entirely, of course, but there was no compelling reason to fill the hotel.  Fortunately, the arrival of Prohibition and Sam Maceo during the Roaring Twenties solved the problem.  For the next twenty years, Maceo's casinos helped fill the hotel to capacity. 

Born in 1919, George Mitchell grew up during Galveston's resurgence.  His high school years would have coincided with Sam Maceo's master move, the opening of the fabulous Balinese Room across the street from the Hotel Galvez.   As he fished in Galveston Bay after school, no doubt he witnessed the steady stream of customers as they walked 400 yards to Maceo's casino.

A very important thing happened in Mitchell's junior year of college.  Dead broke, Mitchell was convinced he had no choice but to drop out of Texas A&M with his education only half-complete.  That is when Sam Maceo mysteriously stepped forward with his shocking offer to pay Mitchell's remaining tuition.

Incredibly relieved that this powerful man was willing to help an obscure college kid he barely knew, Mitchell was overwhelmed with gratitude.  I am firmly convinced Mitchell's gratitude became the inspiration that led him to put Galveston on his shoulders 40 years later when the city was on the ropes. 

Galveston badly needed a new source of revenue.  Mitchell wanted to use the cruise industry as a way to turn the island into a tourist destination.  Getting the cruise ships was a huge step, but Mitchell understood that the hotels were just as important.  Recalling the link between the Balinese Room and the Hotel Galvez, Mitchell decided to take a little walk from the Tremont House Hotel he had just purchased over to the proposed cruise terminal location.  Just as he thought.  400 yards.  Well aware the cruise ships would be just as effective at drawing tourists to the shores of Galveston as the Balinese Room, Mitchell authorized Tremont's $20 million renovation.   This was a huge gamble.  Why?  Because there was no assurance the cruise industry could be persuaded to come.

With this in mind, Mitchell's next step was to contact Carnival while simultaneously seeking city approval for the cruise terminal and Walkover.  To his dismay, neither Carnival nor the obstinate city Wharves Board showed the slightest bit of interest.  Mitchell was fit to be tied.  The hotels were the perfect way to pump tourist dollars into the economy, but there was a major problem. 

Mitchell feared most Texans would bypass the hotels as an unnecessary added cost. 

Houston was a lost cause.  Why bother with a hotel?  With Galveston in their backyard, Houstonians could take a leisurely hour's drive to the ship, park their car, and take a shuttle to the terminal.  For that matter, if someone lived in Dallas, San Antonio, or Austin, they too could skip the hotel.  They could get up early, drive four or five hours, then board the ship in the late afternoon.  If all a passenger did was drop his car off in a parking lot, that would not do much to improve the Galveston economy. 

How could Mitchell persuade people to come a day early, maybe even two days early and stay in a hotel prior to the trip?  

If Mitchell could find a REASON to fill the hotels, that would be the finishing touch.  Mitchell had one advantage.  Other than people living in the Houston area, most Texans were looking at a long drive.  Noting the drive from Dallas was five hours, a hotel offered tourists a chance to rest up plus an evening to enjoy the nearby beach and Galveston's fine seafood restaurants.  That was a good reason to consider coming in a day early. 

However, was there some way Mitchell could make staying at a hotel even more valuable?   Yes!  There was a looming headache known as Harborside Drive.

Long before anyone else, George Mitchell foresaw Harborside Drive as a serious obstacle on Departure Day.  Let's say a cruise ship has 2,000 to 4,000 passengers.  That adds up to thousands of cars.  Mitchell foresaw that Harborside would be packed with wall-to-wall cars on Departure Day and again on Return Day.

Based on personal experience, I can confirm that Mitchell's prediction was correct.  First you sit in traffic on Harborside for 30-60 minutes in an endless wait to drop family and luggage off at the terminal.  Then someone has to drive the car to the parking lot a mile away.  Then the driver has to wait for a shuttle bus to return him to the terminal.  Once reunited with family and friends, now comes another 30-45 minute wait in the Registration line before being allowed on the ship.  Since there is no way to widen Harborside Drive and no way to streamline the process, boarding the ship is often a two-hour ordeal IN ADDITION TO THE DRIVE TIME DOWN TO GALVESTON.

Although Harborside Drive became an enduring curse to passengers, it was a blessing to George Mitchell.  "400 Yards" was his ace in the hole.  As opposed to the two-hour hassle of fighting traffic, Mitchell could promise guests who stayed at Tremont or other nearby hotels such as Harbor House that they could get to the Cruise Terminal in 7 minutes.  Tremont House is so close to the terminal, people can actually walk rather than drive.  A 7 minute walk, 10 minutes tops.  What could be easier?  Walking to their destination would allow guests to leave their cars safe in the hotel parking lot during their trip.  "Walking" would save time plus two taxi fares: one to the ship and one back to the hotel at trip's end.  Even better, by leaving the hotel early, hotel guests would be first in line to register.  That would give them the rest of the day to relax on the ship.  In a sense, staying at the hotel would add an extra day of comfort lounging on the ship. 

However, for this to work, passengers would need to cross busy, traffic-clogged Harborside Drive.  This would not work for families with kids.  Mitchell had a solution: Build a Walkover.  

Mitchell suggested building a bridge to connect the nearby hotels to the cruise ship and let people walk 400 yards to the ship.  Since modern luggage is on wheels, let the kids tote their own suitcase.  What a great sales pitch!  This would give people a valid reason to drive in early as opposed to arriving on Departure Day.  Arrive a day early, enjoy the city, and get a good night's sleep.  Best of all, skip the hassle of traffic in the morning. 

This solution made a world of sense.  However, it also had a hefty price tag.  $750,000.

Unfortunately the Port authorities refused to approve the overhead walkway.  Too expensive.  Nor was it necessary.  Just hire a couple of cops to stop traffic every time someone wants to cross the street (who cares if this solution makes the traffic problem even worse?)  The critics labeled George's bridge idea as the 'Walkway to Nowhere.'  They could not see this bridge as anything other than a huge waste of money.  In defense of the officials, this project was a very risky, very costly gamble.  Mitchell tried to get them to see the logic of the move, but he had one major vulnerability.  What if they build this bridge and the cruise ships still refuse to come? 

Ultimately Mitchell realized the only way to make his plan work was to first convince Carnival to commit.  He could then use their commitment as a way to persuade the Port Authority to build the Walkway and Terminal.  In the end, once Mitchell got Carnival to commit, he finally got his Walkover approved.   The years since have proven that George Mitchell's foresight was correct from the start.  Once people caught on to the advantage of arriving a day or two early, Galveston's hotels and restaurants were blessed with countless customers.  The economy boomed. 
.............................

However, this success story raises a question.  How did George Mitchell persuade the cruise industry to come to Galveston?

AN INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE MITCHELL
 

Rick Archer's Note:  This priceless 2013 interview with George Mitchell explains what happened next.

George Mitchell:  "We worked hard to get the cruise ships down here to Galveston.  Oh, yes, indeed we did.  I had a friend tell me:

"George, how in the hell did you get the cruise ships down here?  What a great move!   We like visiting Galveston.  Hey, buddy, you're costing me money.  My wife says we need to come down and buy some real estate as well."

Sure enough, bringing in the cruise ships was an eye opener.  It made everybody realize something big is going on down here. So now we're pushing to put two more cruise ships at the Del Monte terminal.  They would have seven cruise ships in a row and you should get an aerial picture of that.  Very impressive!

A lot of American cities would be jealous of what we have here.  I'm telling you, they would be.  Bringing the cruise ships was a valuable addition to be sure.  Soon everybody's going to be saying the same thing, "What the hell is going on down in Galveston??"

There's an interesting story about that.  I kept asking the cruise terminal people to do something.  We had a committee, but they weren't very strong, certainly not bold and I wasn't getting anywhere.  Every chance I got, I'd ask the Galveston Port Authority, "Hey, guys, you've got all this empty space down at the docks.  Why don't you work on getting the cruise ships?"

They said, "Well, no, George, we've tried.  We don't have a chance.  They don't answer our calls, they don't give us the time of day."

What a runaround!  I got tired of listening to them.  So I sent a representative to Miami four years straight at my own expense, five thousand dollars a pop, just to talk to the cruise ship companies.  "Hey, guys, why don't you come to Galveston?  Give it a try."

Every time my guys did that, Carnival would just yawn.  The Port people would hear that I struck out again and would send me a message, "You're wasting your time, Mitchell.  You're wasting your money, you're wasting your time, you're wasting our time.  Give it up.  Why don't you listen?  They won't come here.  They have said so repeatedly.  There's no market!"

No market?  What kind of nonsense is that?  Has anyone looked at a map lately?  Finally I said, "Okay, give me a package to take to the cruise people.  Let me see what I can do."

So I got the Galveston port people to say, "This is what their taxes will be; this is what this cost would be; this is what that cost would be." 

I was impressed.  These were good terms.  They were fair.  Now I had something tangible I could put on the table.   So this time I decided to make the pitch myself.  I got on the plane and took the package to the Carnival cruise ship people over in Miami.  They were pleased.  They thought the numbers looked pretty good too.  Okay, I thought, now we're getting somewhere.  They are finally starting to get interested.  Or so I thought.  Next thing I knew, the deal almost fell through. 

As long as I live, I will never forget the moment.  I have been at this for more years than I can count and just as I think something is finally going to happen, a Carnival guy begins to frown. 

He shakes his head, then looks at me.

"George, where are the customers going to come from?" 

All the others nodded.   Every man in the room had a worried frown on their faces.  With the deal hanging in the balance, I looked at them dumbfounded.   Are these guys kidding with me?  No!  They were dead serious!  They didn't get it!!  They actually didn't get it at all.  So I spoke up.

"Gentlemen, Texas is a very populous state.  17 million, 12 million of whom live within a 300 mile radius of Galveston.  NASA is Galveston's next door neighbor.  Houston, the 4th largest city in America, is just over the causeway.  This is an untapped market!   You men are looking at a gold mine!"

They all started to blink.  If I didn't know better, they acted like this was the first time they had ever heard such a radical concept.  The fourth largest city, gee, what do you know about that?  

"How far away is Houston?" they asked. 

I almost laughed out loud.  These men were college graduates, but they acted like none of them had ever looked at a damn map.  I was so incredulous, I couldn't help it, I raised my voice. 

"Come on, guys, Houston is just 50 miles away, an hour drive at most!"

An hour away?  Really?   Gosh, that's close enough for passengers to drive down!  There are two airports in Houston.  Better yet, the whole state of Texas was within driving distance.  Seriously, it took every ounce of self-control for me to keep a straight face.  Now they started to nod.  Hey, what do you know, this might just work!  They turned their attention back to me. 

"Well, George, we would have to do some serious advertising."

"Promise me you will come to Galveston and we will help you do the promotion for the first year.  How much do you need?"

They wanted $250,000 to begin promoting the arrival of the cruise ships to Texas.  I said okay, guys, that's a lot of money, but I will see what I can do.  So I took the deal back to the Port Authority.  That was 1992.  After the Port Authority did the final negotiations with Carnival, the company requested $250,000 from the private sector to pay for a portion of their first year’s advertising budget. 

So I went about raising the money.  The Moody family, the Fertitta family, and the Park Board each contributed $50,000.  That left us $100,000 short, so I threw the additional $100,000 into the pot.  That did it.  We closed the deal with Carnival. 

I was excited.   I could not believe after all that work, Carnival had finally accepted the deal.  Let's do this promotion and try it out!  

Weren't they surprised!?   Yes, almighty, it was a success from Day One back in year 2000.  After a year or two, statistics reported that 75 percent of the people were driving in, not flying.  These were brand new customers from  within that 300 mile radius I had spoken of.  That made all the difference in the world to Carnival.  They expanded as fast as they could. 

And then the other companies smelled the bait and they came too.  Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Disney.  But give Carnival the credit, Carnival was the first.   Carnival got the ball rolling."

America's 4th busiest cruise port
 

"But, George, where are the customers going to come from?"

Following Carnival's successful launch in 2000, in the space of just a few years, Galveston became America's fourth busiest cruise port, trailing three previously established locations in Florida.  Galveston was bigger than Boston, bigger than New York, bigger than L.A. 

Galveston had more than just cruise ships going for it.  It had Moody Gardens, a busy water park, and a beautiful warm-water beach within walking distance of the hotels.  Once people discovered what a great spot Galveston was for their kids, they had reasons to come again whether booking a cruise or not.  Overnight Galveston's tourist industry began to compete with the popular San Antonio Riverwalk for the almighty tourist dollar in the State of Texas.  

The boost to Galveston's economy was astronomical.  With a flood of Texans driving down to the city, many cruise passengers came a day early, some two days early, maybe even a week early.  Not only did the hotels thrive, all sorts of tourist-related attractions popped up.  With jobs being created right and left, Tourism brought prosperity back to Galveston for the first time since the days of Sam Maceo.  In retrospect, it seems so obvious.  How could anyone have possibly overlooked the cruise potential of Galveston?  

The image of a flabbergasted George Mitchell staring in shock at those Carnival executives tickles me no end.  Well, duh, has anyone in Florida ever heard of Houston?  It staggers the mind that George Mitchell had to explain Texas was the second most populous state in the country.  Not just that, Texas was an untapped market.  Why fly to Florida for a cruise when you can drive to Galveston??  Talk about a Blind Spot.  My guess is the Florida-based executives had been locked into the mind-set that Florida was more than sufficient.  While it was true Eastern USA residents were used to cruising the Eastern Caribbean, George Mitchell suggested that mysterious body of water known as the Gulf of Mexico had vast potential.

Galveston is well aware of the debt it owes to George Mitchell.  They have statues of him scattered all around the city.  In addition, they renamed the bridge that connects mainland Texas to the island in his honor.  From my vantage point, the Mexican city known as Cozumel should also erect a shrine to Mitchell.  Cozumel has become one of the the richest cities in Mexico thanks in large part to Galveston.  As many as 8 cruise ships per day dock on its shores.  I know this for a fact; I've seen it with my own eyes.  Can you imagine 20,000 cruise passengers a day visiting with money to spend?  Cozumel is so swamped with tourists it has built three piers, one for Carnival, one for Royal Caribbean, one for the other cruise lines.

Cozumel had a clever idea.  Well aware that 80% of all cruise passengers are too lazy to explore the island, they built giant tourist traps to surround each pier.  These complexes are so large, they operate like a maze.  Even better, there are virtually no Exit Signs.  Unless you make a determined effort to leave, you wander from shop to shop without seeing an escape route.  Nobody complains.  These people can buy everything trinket imaginable within easy walking distance of the ship.  Most people buy at least a tee-shirt, then stop for several rounds of margaritas with their friends before returning to the ship. 

The amount of money that flows into the Cozumel economy is beyond comprehension.  And the thing to understand is that same thing has happened to Galveston.  The same people who have made Cozumel rich have made Galveston even richer.  However, back then no one could see it but George Mitchell.  How could the cruise executives be so blind?  They were the smartest guys in the room, experts who theoretically had a working grasp of geography and population statistics.  The sheer ignorance of it all is mind-boggling.

Fortunately, Mitchell's dogged determination won the day.  Once Mitchell did the heavy lifting, the Galveston city officials gave in and built the expensive port terminal.  Galveston is now the major cruise port in the Gulf of Mexico.  In the end, George Mitchell's vision was absolutely correct.  His determination to bring the cruise ships to Galveston paid off handsomely.