Portsmouth port announces record cruise schedule boosting tourism

The News, Portsmouth

Head of cruise and ferry, Andrew Williamson, said 94 cruise ships will call at the port this year.

Transcript

00:00Really excited for the upcoming year it's great to see that we've got

00:02continued growth in the cruise industry, increasing our calls from around 80 last

00:07year up to 94 in the coming year. New brands, smaller ships as well as big

00:12ships which is exactly the market we've been going for, so the luxury boutique

00:16sector, the numbers speak for themselves that we've proven to be quite successful.

00:21You mentioned new brands coming up to the port, some of them Seven Seas,

00:24Swan Hellenic and others, why do you think these new brands have chosen to

00:28call up Portsmouth or what's set yourselves apart from other places?

00:32So we've worked hard to establish ourselves as a port for the luxury and boutique sector

00:35of the cruise industry and we've set us apart from some of our rivals, so we're able to

00:40give them a bespoke package when they visit the city, looking after them

00:43exactly as they need and with our local facilities, world-class attractions,

00:47it's a perfect port for them to visit.

00:50Is that due to things such as like the visit port of liaisons

00:54with people helping the tourists when they get off the ship and go around the city?

00:57Is that the sort of offering, a more unique offering than other places?

00:59Exactly, that personal touch, the welcome that the Shipping Portsmouth Ambassadors give

01:04has been really warmly received by the cruise lines and their passengers,

01:07as has the departures from the city when everybody's out on the hot walls waving

01:10the ships off, it sets Portsmouth apart and it keeps us in people's minds.

01:14So as you say we've had phenomenal growth in the cruise sector but we're very conscious

01:19that we need to do that growth sustainably, so the shore power system will allow the ships to

01:23plug in, switch off their engines when they're alongside which will improve the air quality in

01:27the city and help with the port's general environmental credentials.

01:31So last year was also a busy year for the port with more people never coming to choose to go

01:36off on their holidays from here or step off, what has been the reaction from tourists and

01:40residents in Portsmouth to all the stuff that the port was doing last year?

01:44So the feedback we get from the locals, local people of Portsmouth has been pretty positive

01:49for cruise, as I say they go out to wave the ships off when they sail away which the passengers

01:53really really enjoyed to see, especially the Americans, seeing them waving with the union flags.

01:58But yeah it's been the people are staying local, spending money in the city, supporting local

02:03attractions, supporting local businesses and that's what we're trying to do part of the BT coffering.

02:09You mentioned tourists spending money there, it was estimated that roughly 1.5 million

02:13comes in from each cruise call and obviously some of that money will go to Portsmouth City

02:17Council which can then be passed on to other services that the council offers. Do you think

02:23that that amount of revenue will only increase year on year and residents of Portsmouth will

02:28actually see that in their day-to-day lives and not just at the port itself?

02:32Yeah absolutely, with the cruise ships that come in as you say, there's a certain number of industries

02:37that benefit from taxi drivers picking up passengers at the port, taking them to the train stations,

02:41local hotels, restaurants, crew going shopping in town, as well as visiting the local attractions

02:47trying to emphasize that there's a local offering rather than going further afield and stay local

02:51in Portsmouth, so that's part of our key messaging to the cruise lines. And finally the port has been

02:57regularly expanding its offerings with the shore power coming up but also the carbon neutral

03:00terminal that was opened recently. If the port keeps on getting this year-on-year growth in

03:06its cruise schedule, what are some of the potential other things that the port could

03:10be looking at to expand itself? So as you say we've invested heavily over the last few years,

03:14we're trying to constantly improve the offering to cruise ships, could that be from increased

03:19car parking facilities to new gangways, new structures to make the passenger experience

03:24even greater. As you say we've seen a huge amount of growth in the short space of time,

03:29it'll be interesting to see what's next around the corner.

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