Communities in the south of Skye are set to lose out on crucial tourism business next year because publicly owned Caledonian MacBrayne uses unsuitable ferries to serve them, it is claimed.
The local MSP has discovered that two major tour operators intend to avoid the troubled Mallaig to Skye ferry crossing solely because of this summer’s cancellations and delays on the service to Armadale on the Sleat Peninsula.
Although there is a bridge to Skye many tour buses like to take the ferry over the sea to Skye.
The community-led Sleat Transport Forum spent all summer campaigning for the return of the normal vessel, the Coruisk, to the Armadale to Mallaig service. The ferry had been redeployed to help deal with the extra traffic on the Oban to Craignure (Mull) run attracted by cheaper ferry fares under Road Equivalent Tariff (RET).
There were complaints that there had been more than 100 sailings cancelled or disrupted by early June, with businesses in Sleat suffering. They have argued the vessels replacing the Coruisk were ill-suited to operating at certain phases of the tide.
Kate Forbes SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, says she was deeply concerned that tour companies were starting to “boycott Skye” because of the unreliability of the ferry service.
She said over the whole 2016 summer season one in ten crossings were cancelled, with only 85 per of scheduled journeys arriving on time.
She said this week a representative from Kleemann Tours said they were actively reconsidering their options because smaller vessels that served on the Mallaig to Armadale crossing this summer were unsuitable for their large coaches (over 12.5m). The resulting delays and cancellations meant that tourists had less time in the West Highlands and on Skye.
Another major UK tour operator, who had asked not to be named, have now disclosed to Ms Forbes that they regrettably will not be running any tours to Skye this summer because of the uncertainty over the ferry.
Previously this company had brought well over 1,000 tourists to the island during the summer period, she said and continued:
She said: “I know, and both of these companies know, that the Isle of Skye is the tourism jewel in the crown of the Scottish Highlands, and the tour operators are genuinely grieved to take this decision. This gives the clearest example of the significant economic impact that this summer of disruption has had.
“To have two major, and respected, tour operators tell me that they are effectively going to have to boycott Skye because the ferry service is simply not fit for purpose should be a stark wake-up call."
She said it wasn't just tourism operators on Skye who would suffer. There were the hoteliers in Mallaig who had worked hard to build up positive working relationships with various tour operators. Then there were the various tourist attractions, both on the route from Fort William to Mallaig, and also on the Isle of Skye.
“If you have coaches rushing up from Fort William because the replacement ferries can’t operate during low tide, they will not have time to stop in places like Morar, Glenfinnan and Mallaig itself. But similarly if the ferry can’t take a large coach, we have a group of 50 people who can’t get over to Skye, and this will impact tourist attractions there.
“We have already heard from at least one tourist attraction on Skye that takings were down by tens of thousands of pounds on the previous summer, and I imagine they are not alone," the MSP said.
A CalMac spokesman said:“We are in regular contact with coach operators to discuss their plans for Summer 2017 and are doing what we can to reassure them that the proposals we are finalising for the Mallaig-Armadale service will address any concerns they have. At present coach bookings for the route for next year are healthy. We will publish the proposed timetable as soon as it is agreed."
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