The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
River Tay boat trips under review after significant slump in customer numbers
Passenger totals in 2019 almost half of the previous season
Council chiefs will review boating on the River Tay after a dramatic downturn in passengers.
The project was launched three years ago to transform the iconic watercourse at Perth into a busy thoroughfare for water taxis and pleasure cruises.
The season usually gets under way in May, but has been put on hold as lockdown restrictions continue.
However, figures obtained by The Courier reveal a notable decline in paying customers.
From mid-May to the end of September 2018, boats took 1,243 passengers out for a trip on the river, a total of 402 transactions.
From May 16 to September 15 last year, the total number of passengers nearly halved to 650 – just 212 transactions.
It is understood bad weather in 2019, following a heatwave the year before, was a factor in the decline.
It costs around £58,000 to run the service each year, including advertising and the removal, storage and installation of pontoons.
Anderson Marine, which ran trips for the council from Broughty Ferry to the Fergusson Gallery, was paid £31,500, while the Taymara charity – which operated runs from Willowgate to Elcho Castle – got £26,000.
Perth and Kinross Council said payments to both organisations were offset by income generated from trips.
A spokeswoman said: “The council provides infrastructure and a subsidy towards the delivery of the River Tay boat trips.
“As the figures show, there was a reduction in passenger and trip numbers between the 2018 and 2019 seasons.”
She said: “While our focus as a council currently remains on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, we will be looking in due course with the operators at how this initiative might go forward in the future.”
The pontoons, which were swung into place in 2016, represented the first major project to be carried out as part of the Perth City Plan, a vision of improvements to be rolled out over the next 20 years. At the time, councillors said the trips would provide the “must see” attraction that Perth was lacking and would strengthen tourism by linking with other planned investment.