Council welcomes start of new cruise ship season in Caithness

26th May 2013

Highland Council has welcomed a successful start to the 2013 cruise ship programme at Scrabster, following the visit on Friday 24th May 2013 of the Adonia, carrying nearly 700 passengers and over 350 crew.

Councillor Roger Saxon said �We were delighted to see so many visitors enjoying the sunshine, and either visiting local attractions such as the Castle of Mey or taking advantage of the free shuttle buses between Scrabster and Thurso town centre. Whilst we can�t claim credit for the weather, we were delighted to support once again the provision of the shuttle buses through our Thurso Ward Discretionary Budget, which made a real difference to the footfall in Thurso throughout the day. Between 650 and 700 people made use of the shuttle bus into the town centre, so probably nearly all the passengers took advantage of the facility laid on by the Ward discretionary funding, fully supported by my colleagues Councillors Donnie Mackay and John Rosie

�We continue to value the contribution that tourism makes to this area�s economy, and recognise the significant work that Scrabster Harbour Trust have done in partnership with the Highland Council, Cruise Scotland and others to promote the north to the cruise ship market.�

�This was just the first of 10 cruise ships coming to Scrabster this year, bringing potentially over 3,500 visitors, who hopefully will return to Caithness after seeing what the area has to offer.

The next cruise liner to visit Caithness will be the Amadea which will berth at Scrabster Harbour on Saturday 8th June.

Other dates are:

� Monday 10 June - Serenissima

� Monday 24 June - Minerva

� Sunday 7 July - Serenissima

� Friday 12 July - Amadea

� Thursday 25 July - Hebridean Princess

� Sunday 28 July - Hebridean Princess

� Thursday 15 Aug - Discovery