THE Port of Cromarty Firth is anticipating setting a fresh annual record, with more than 180,000 passengers expected to visit on 109 cruise ships this year, writes Ian McConnell.
It estimates that the cruise passengers will provide a boost of about £18 million to the Highland economy.
The Invergordon port highlighted the fact that it had achieved records last year, with 93 ships and around 170,000 passengers visiting.
Read More: Ian McConnell: Paris metro poster for slapstick British farce evokes Brexit metaphor
The Port of Cromarty Firth noted that these cruise passengers would contribute to tourist attractions across the region, including Cawdor Castle, Royal Dornoch Golf Club, Jacobite Cruises, Glenmorangie Distillery, Inverness, and Strathspey Steam Railway. It noted that a tour of Rothiemurchus, in the Cairngorms National Park, would be a new offering in 2019. The port added that EcoVentures in Cromarty had recruited extra staff to cope with demand for its dolphin and wildlife boat tours.
Read More: Ian McConnell: European Research Group triumphant amid people’s Brexit despair
The first cruise ship to arrive will again be the Astoria, docking on March 26 with 550 passengers. The cruise season will finish on September 24, with the Seabourn Ovation carrying 600 passengers.
Allison McGuire, cruise manager at the Port of Cromarty Firth, said: “We have seen a steady increase in the number of cruise passengers visiting Invergordon over the years and 2019 will be no exception.
“This year we will continue to see some of the world’s largest cruise ships coming into the port, taking advantage of the deep water and incredible attractions we have to offer. This is really good news for businesses across the Highlands, and I look forward to welcoming new and returning vessels into the port over the coming months."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here