‘Tremendous year’ for cruise industry at home and nationally
Lerwick Port Authority’s Melanie Henderson has been chair of Cruise Scotland for around a year
SCOTLAND continues to have a “really strong reputation” in the cruise industry, according to Lerwick Port Authority’s Melanie Henderson.
It comes as Henderson marks one year since being appointed as chair of Cruise Scotland, the organisation which aims to promote the country as a destination to operators.
The port authority’s cruise and marketing manager said it has been a “tremendous year at Cruise Scotland, with lots of growth”.
This will culminate in the organisation’s first conference, which is being held next week in Glasgow.
The picture in Lerwick is also similarly positive, with a record 137 vessels calling at the port during the season, which ran from April to October.
This saw 122,164 passengers arrive in Lerwick on cruise ships, with the shipping amounting to 5.7 million gross tonnes.
Speaking to Shetland News, Henderson said Lerwick is fortunate to see a wide range of cruise lines visiting the town, with around 35 different operators involved this year.
“The huge success of a cruise season is very dependent on the destination and the welcome they get when they come here,” she added.
“The businesses, organisations, venues, retailers, hospitality sector – everybody that’s risen to provide that warm welcome ashore, has really gone into encouraging the cruise lines to keep repeat visiting here.”
She also highlighted the work of eight seasonal port authority staff who work in a meet and greet capacity when passengers come ashore.
As previously reported, they are occasionally complemented by German language pupils from the Anderson High School as part of scheme to give youngsters a chance to try out their skills among passengers who speak to the language.
Henderson said that scheme has been “huge success” and “helps to develop their skills in a really practical way”.
A total of 135 cruise ships are scheduled to visit Lerwick next year, with the season likely run again between April to October.
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But Henderson said having forward bookings through to 2035 is “unheard of”.
“That shows the confidence that the cruise lines have in visiting Lerwick,” she said.
“Cruise tourism is very well planned, we know when cruise ships are coming. This is the furthest I have seen cruise bookings happening in my time here. It’s been generally cruise lines planning maybe two or three years ahead, but we’ve got bookings right through to 2035.”
She said the quick growth after the Covid pandemic and its restrictions is now steadying, leading to more stable figures.
“We just need to build on that and maximise the opportunity from cruise growth every season, finding out ways we can meet the demand from cruise lines in their shore programme and what they’re looking for,” Henderson said.
“There’s lots of folk wanting to develop new products and services to get into cruise, and we want to encourage that as much as possible.”
Now-completed dredging work in Lerwick Harbour should also offer more mid-to-large cruise vessels the chance to berth at Mair’s Pier, which is located in between Lerwick Power Station and the NorthLink ferry terminal.
“We’ve widened the channel and deepened the berth so that gives the cruise line operator more margin for berthing there,” Henderson explained.
While cruise ships to Lerwick have reached new heights in recent years, visiting vessels have been coming to the harbour for some time.
One of the earliest recorded cruise ship visits to Lerwick was RMS Viceroy of India in 1928. She was a passenger vessel operated by P&O Steam Navigation Company.
Back to the modern day, and when it comes the national picture the Cruise Scotland chair said the country’s ports are “doing really well” at the moment.
“Scotland is a very safe, stable and reliable destination and we’ve got a strong reputation now within the industry, and want to maintain that,” Henderson said.
“Our efforts are about attracting cruise lines into Shetland and increasing what we can offer them.”
The Scottish Government has consulted on a potential cruise levy, which could extend the concept of a visitor levy to passengers on liners coming into the country’s ports.
While no decisions have been made, Henderson’s view is that a levy being introduced could have knock-on effects.
“There is concern that the introduction of a levy might be a deterrent to cruise lines calling into Scotland,” she said.
“If that happens, any reduction in the number of cruise ships visiting, it’s a concern that maybe that reduction and the loss in the local economies may never be met by the level of taxation.
“But we understand the local authorities are in a position that they need to look at these options, but we would want to do it in a way that doesn’t damage the relationships that we’ve built up with the cruise lines because it’s taken decades to built these relationships to get the cruise line operators to come here.”
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