Submitted by CE-Press on 6 December 2012 - 11:31am
Portree received 29 calls and 12,884 passengers in 2012 compared to 22 and 7,677 respectively in 2011.
“This year is the best season we have had so far,” commented Gordon Ireland, tourism development officer The Highland Council, who credited the growth to membership of associations such as Cruise Europe as well as attendance at trade shows.
“For the first five years the only marketing we did was through the Cruise Europe yearbook and the website. There was no budget for anything else and that [membership] really paid dividends.”
Back in 2000 there were only three/four calls a year. In the last couple of years call numbers have grown significantly.
This year there were seven maiden calls from Albatros, Azamara Journey, Marina, Quest for Adventure, Nautica, Ocean Countess and Hamburg. The first call was from Le Boreal on April 29 and the last from Seven Seas Voyager on September 11 although Hebridean Princess does call outside of the normal season.
The Scottish port on the Isle of Skye is anchorage-only with a two-tender pontoon just 10 minutes away. From there it is just five minutes walk to the town centre. The largest ship to call to date was Holland America Line’s Westerdam when she visited two years ago.
Cruise shipping brings a lot into the economy according to Ireland who says the community welcomes the benefits. Shore excursions include tour boats to view wildlife, Eilean Donan Castle and the Tallisker Distillery.
Source: cruiseeurope.com
