Cruise industry value due to rise to £50m

THE value of the cruise industry to the Scottish economy is projected to rise to almost £50 million this year, a near 65% increase in the past three years.

Over 400,000 passengers are expected in ports right round the Scottish coast and island groups from Leith to Lerwick and Stornoway to Greenock.

Victor Sandison, the Shetland-based chairman of CruiseScotland, which represents the cruise liner ports, said yesterday: “We had a study done in 2010 when the value of the cruise industry to Scotland was estimated to be £32m. Last year it was £46.6m using the same methodology. Based on our esti- mated passenger numbers for this year, both turnaround and transit, we are looking at 408,000 with the value set to increase to £49m.”

He said transit passengers were those already on board the liner, whereas turnaround were those joining the cruise.

“The bulk of our numbers are transit passengers. Indeed Scotland is the leader in the UK for transit passengers. We get more transit traffic than the rest of the UK.”

Meanwhile, the cruise industry’s direct expenditure in the UK last year rose by 3.7% to £2.49 billion, according to latest figures, which were revealed by the Cruise Lines International Association.