Cruise ship hopes

The Scotsman rightly states that “Our ailing economy needs tourists” (editorial comment, 16 March). However, its answer to the problems of popular places struggling to cope with visitor numbers fails to take account of the potential of increasing cruiserelated tourism.

Scotland’s busiest port is in Orkney, with almost 200 ships berthing at Kirkwall annually, yet Leith attracts less than half that number due to the constraints on the port. There is currently no port on the Forth capable of accommodating the larger cruise ships, which explains why so few of them call here.

East Lothian Council have recently taken ownership of the former power station land at Cockenzie and a strong case has been made by Prestonpans Community Council that a cruise terminal could be located there, creating muchneeded local employment and opening the door to thousands of additional tourists to Scotland.

A cruise terminal at Prestonpans would allow even the largest ships to berth alongside, with passengers only a 30-minute coach journey or 15 minutes by train to central Edinburgh. The beauty of increasing the number of cruise ships is that they provide their own accommodation, thus mitigating the pressure on hotels in and around Edinburgh.

The other attraction of cruise ships berthing in East Lothian is that local businesses, golf courses and visitor attractions could lure passengers and crew keen to explore what Scotland has to offer outside its capital city.

A once-in-a-generation opportunity presents itself on the former power station site and East Lothian Council and the scottish government need to fully explore the potential of a port at Prestonpans if we are serious about attracting more tourists to Scotland.

BRIAN WEDDELL Chairperson, Prestonpans

Community Council