Highland Councillors this week welcomed the early boost to the county's tourist season provided by the first cruise ships to visit Scrabster in what will be its busiest season yet for visits by cruise ships. The visits of the Ocean Countess and the Quest attracted hundreds of passengers to key sites in the county, with The Highland Council-funded shuttle bus service between Scrabster and Thurso town centre in particularly heavy demand.
Gordon Mackenzie, Scrabster Harbour Trust's Harbour Master said the value of the Council-funded service was proven almost immediately. He said: "The visit of the Ocean Countess on 21st April was our first of the season, and the ship carried over 650 passengers. We estimate that around 400 of those passengers made use of the shuttle bus service during the day to come up into Thurso, with the remainder taking advantage of mini tours to sites such as the Castle of Mey. The shuttle buses were running at virtually full capacity throughout the day, and with a total of 11 visiting ships during 2011 I hope local businesses continue to see a benefit from that."
Highland Councillor John Rosie, Thurso, said: "Local members have been keen to support the development of the cruise ship market at Scrabster over the past five years or more - we identified it as a positive way for Council to support the development of the area's tourism industry as Caithness and North Sutherland goes through an economic transition process. It is therefore very heartening to see the shuttle buses being so heavily used."
Alan Steven, Caithness Chamber of Commerce's newly-appointed Town Centre Development Officer also welcomed the influx of visitors. He said: "The county has certainly enjoyed a good start to the tourist season: the Coldwater Classic Surfing event in April, and the "Wave North" mini-festival organised around it, show that we can all pull together to make our town centres attractive places for both visitors and locals alike. Working with businesses in both Wick and Thurso my aim is to create further opportunities like this."
Eann Sinclair, Programme Manager for the Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership, hailed the spirit of partnership working that lay behind the progress being made. He said: "We often criticise ourselves for not responding well enough to opportunities, so I think local businesses and agencies deserve enormous credit for this type of joined-up working. Scrabster Harbour Trust's foresight in pursuing the opportunities for cruise ship business has really begun to bear fruit."