Good-bye to the Delta Queen?

This moved on the AP wire today.

CINCINNATI (AP) — It looks like this will be the last summer for Ohio River cruises aboard an historic sternwheeler that used to call Cincinnati its home port.

An attempt by Republican Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio to attach an amendment to the Coast Guard Authorization Act was defeated 208-195 in the U.S. House on Thursday.

The amendment would have granted a 10-year exemption from the Safety at Sea Act, which bans overnight passenger cruises on vessels that have a wooden superstructure.

The 82-year-old steamboat has been given nine exemptions since 1968, but the current one expires Nov. 1.

The Delta Queen began operating as a river steamboat in 1926 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

The Delta Queen has stops in Kentucky, including Louisville, Paducah and Henderson.

And it's supposed to stop at Point Pleasant, W.Va., this year, too. But Huntington? No. Our convention and visitors bureau thinks the most popular floating attraction on the Ohio River is worthless because it does not drop anyone off to spend a night in a hotel.

Forget that people here actually want to see the boat tie up at Harris Riverfront Park, and that local businesses other than hotels profit from the boat's stopping here. There is laundry to be washed, hardware to be bought, clean water to be brought on board and several other business opportunities, but no, it doesn't fill one hotel room, so the boat can just cruise on by.

Well, the boat could make its final trip up the Ohio River this summer, and our local tourism people won't care one bit. It looks like we need a fresh slate of people at the CVB, people concerned about more than hotel rooms.