New London — Cross Sound Ferry is adding a vessel for its New London-to-Orient Point, N.Y., service, the company announced Thursday following a visit by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

The company, whose Ferry Street terminal was the setting for the governor’s latest statement on tourism, has acquired the Pamlico, a 50-auto, 300-passenger ferry, from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The vessel, which will be renamed, is expected to enter service in June, Cross Sound’s seventh auto/passenger transport on the Orient Point run. Cross Sound also operates Sea Jet I, a high-speed, passenger-only ferry.

“We’re making a substantial investment in renovations,” Stan Mickus, a Cross Sound spokesman, said of the company’s newly acquired ferry, now docked at Thames Shipyard & Repair Co. in New London. “We’re expanding the passenger area, modifying the cabin and bringing it up to the same level as our other ferries. It will have cushioned seating, booths, food service, a lounge with tables and satellite TV.”

Mickus said Cross Sound’s business has increased the last two summers and that the company wanted to be aggressive in meeting the demand.

Cross Sound worked with the U.S. Maritime Association to acquire the Pamlico, which the company said it purchased entirely with private funds.

The company recently introduced a new website, streamlined its reservation system and overhauled its Rewards program, according to a news release. Cross Sound plans a series of further upgrades in 2016, including infrastructure improvements at its Orient Point terminal.

Malloy made several stops in New London Thursday, the day after he delivered his annual budget message to the state legislature. Joining him at the Cross Sound terminal were Catherine Smith, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, state tourism officials, state Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, and Mayor Michael Passero.

Citing statistics, the governor said 2015 was an especially good year for tourism, a major driver of the state's economy, generating $14.5 billion worth of economic activity annually. He said visits to state tourism destinations last summer were up 12 percent over the same period the previous year. Average spending per party per trip increased 11 percent to $691.

Hotel occupancy rates in the state were up 3.7 percent for the year, exceeding the results for New England, where rates were up 2 percent. Nationally, rates were up 1.7 percent.

"We outstripped national growth by more than 2-to-1," Malloy said.

The governor's budget proposal shifts funding for grants for tourism and the arts and other community grants from the Department of Economic and Community Development to the state comptroller, where they would have to compete for funding.

Proposed funding for tourism grants, which includes the state's three regional tourism districts, would be reduced by 25 percent to $3.3 million.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck