EVERY year around a quarter of a million people from cruise ships walk down the gangplank into Greenock – and I’m one of the first to greet them as they set foot on Scotland.
As a volunteer with the Inverclyde Tourist Group, which was founded in 2001 to welcome the passengers who disembark from the enormous cruise ships that stop at Greenock’s Ocean Terminal, I’m there to make sure visitors from all over the world get the warmest of Scottish welcomes.
I think this is really important as it gives them an instant feeling that we Scots are very pleased they have decided to visit our great country.
We get around 60 cruise ships a year, with around 4,000 passengers arriving each time.
A lot of the tourists are from America, Canada or Europe and we help them make the most of what is their only day in Scotland.
Some want to visit the sites or shops in Glasgow or Edinburgh, or to see Loch Lomond or the Highlands; others are keen to play golf at St Andrews or visit Burns country.
We also get some unusual requests for help, of course. One man told me his life’s ambition was to stand on Hadrian’s Wall, so we arranged for a taxi to take him there and back in one day. He got his wish and had a great time. For those who want to visit Shetland or Orkney, we advise them it’s a just that wee bit too far to go in one day.
Fans of the TV show Outlander always make a beeline for filming locations such as Doune Castle, near Stirling.
We also get a lot of people who have the Fire Brigade Museum in Greenock as a priority – particularly firemen from New York, who often bring a gift of the end of a hosepipe or some other specialist equipment from their station back home.
Scottish pubs are also a major attraction and I tell them there are different types of pubs. Inevitably, they choose a traditional ‘spit and sawdust’ pub over fancier places. As the local people are so friendly and welcoming, they usually return to the ship quite merry, not having had to buy a drink.
The ship crews love going to Primark to buy clothes for their family back in the Philippines, as well as giant bars of Toblerone for relatives and friends. Whenever a cruise ship is due to dock, you see the boxes of Toblerone stacked outside the local shops.
I’m 71, a retired maths teacher, and I wanted to give something back to the town. I enjoy meeting people from all over the world and showing off Scotland to them.
It’s a really, really enjoyable job that’s not short of laughs.
One American couple came down the gangplank to change dollars into sterling. As their next stop was the Faroe Islands, the teller offered to change part of their money into Faroese currency. The husband insisted they weren’t going to Faroe and they had an argument, which ended with the man turning to his wife and saying: “You never told me we were going to Egypt.”
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