Matthew Dow

Matthew Dow

Assistant Marine Operations Manager / New Orleans Steamboat Company / Gray Line Tours

Matt Dow grew up keeping time using the whistles blowing from his family’s steamboats in Lake George, New York, and with the music of his family’s New Orleans Steamboat Natchez’s calliope in his soul.

Dow’s father, Bill Dow, founded the New Orleans Steamboat Co. in 1972 and was responsible for building Steamboat Natchez. The family business has since grown to include Gray Line Tours and Visit New Orleans.

Following in his father’s footsteps, over the past few years, Matt Dow served as the project manager for the renovation of the new City of New Orleans. Previously a casino boat from Peoria, Illinois, the boat was purchased in September, 2016 and towed to its current location in February, 2017. It began offering trips on the Mississippi River from New Orleans this past January.

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While the City of New Orleans fulfills the company’s need for a boat with more dining space and gaming machines and offers more entertainment options for visitors, for Dow, the project has been about much more than a business opportunity.

“For me, this is a coming of age project,” he says. “It has taught me a lot about what it takes to do work down here in New Orleans, helped me build onto existing business relationships and establish new contacts for future projects. Most importantly, it has taught me a lot about myself and what kind of leader I am, and what kind of leader I want to be. For me, personally, she will always be a physical embodiment of a pivotal time in my life. She is also a beautiful boat and will be a jewel in the tiara that is the New Orleans waterfront.”

 

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