The Cromarty Firth welcomed over 6,600 cruise passengers this morning, the highest number ever to arrive at the Ross-shire port in one day.
Two large liners, the Caribbean Princess, carrying 3,109 passengers, and the MSC Preziosa, carrying 3,493 passengers, docked at a sunny Invergordon, more than doubling the town's population.
This is 20 per cent higher than the previous passenger footfall record, set in April last year, when three liners visited the port in one day.
According to the port authority, the passengers spread out across the Highlands, visiting a range of tourist attractions including: Cawdor Castle; Dunrobin Castle; Dornoch; Rogie Falls and Silverbridge; Glenmorangie Distillery; Inverness; with some taking another cruise on Loch Ness.
It is estimated they boosted the regional economy by around £660,000 in a single day and made up approximately 4.6 per cent of the passengers visiting his year
Captain Iain Dunderdale, the port's Cruise Manager , said: “It has been fantastic to welcome two the of the world’s largest cruise ships and 6,600 passengers to the Port today. Over the years, there has been a steady increase in the number of passengers visiting Invergordon and this year we expect around 142,000. With its deep water, the Port of Cromarty Firth is one of only two ports in the Highlands and Islands able to accommodate the very biggest cruise ships.”
Bob Buskie, Chief Executive of the Port of Cromarty Firth, said: “The cruise sector has a crucial role to play in the Cromarty Firth area and across the Highlands, supporting jobs in a wide number of industries, including: tour guides, shipping agents, ground handling staff, transport providers and employees in local distilleries, golf clubs and the hospitality industry."
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