Cruise ship boom will help so many in our city

THIS year not been kind to Portsmouth, and the tales of woe from many of our local independent businesses have shown just how hard it has been to survive during the two national lockdowns.

Customer numbers are down, restrictions are still in place and with Christmas around the corner, this should be the busiest time of year for traders.

Looking beyond the end of the pandemic, there is however a glint of light for these struggling businesses.

As The News is reporting today, plans are underway to turn Portsmouth into the UK’s leading cruise ship port within three years.

The ambitious project would lead to an extra 125,000 tourists visiting the city by 2024 – a huge 300 per cent increase on the current figure.

It will be welcome news to Portsmouth’s many shopkeepers, restaurant owners and pub landlords who can expect to get a slice of the financial boost the city is likely to get.

Portsmouth has long been a popular destination for tourists – the crowds on Southsea seafront and the interest in the Historic Dockyard can attest to that – but the extra money will surely play a part in protecting our much-loved small businesses for years to come.

Already this year our city became the first in the UK to welcome a cruise ship since the start of the pandemic, when SeaDream Yacht Club’s vessel, SeaDream 1, arrived in October.

And in March the world’s first hybrid cruise ship, MS Fridtjof Nansen, was in Portsmouth.

It was an impressive sight, a sentiment shared by the many locals who gathered at the seafront to watch the ship arrive.

We might have to wait until 2024 to see those extra 125,000 tourists embark in Portsmouth. But there is little doubt already that the city’s standing in the cruise industry is in rude health.