The Port of Cromarty Firth has broken its one-day record day before yesterday since it has been able to welcome a large number of cruise travellers into the Highlands.
Over 6,000 people have arrived in Invergordon and two large cruise liners namely the MSC Preziosa carrying 3,493 passengers and 3,109 passengers docked into the port. The figure is actually 20% higher as compared to the previous passenger footfall record that was set in April 2016 when three cruise liners had visited the Port in a single day.
The cruise passengers had spread out throughout the Highlands.
They had visited various tourist attractions like Glenmorangie Distillery, Silverbridge, Inverness Rogie Falls, Dornoch, Dunrobin Castle and Cawdor Castle. Also, they had visited a cruise on the iconic Loch Ness.
It is estimated that these passengers had boosted the local economy by nearly £660,000 in a single day and had been able to make up as much as 4.6% of the cruise passengers arriving in the Highlands this year through the port. The Cruise Manager of the Port of Cromarty Firth, named Captain Iain Dunderdale mentioned that it feels wonderful to embrace two of the largest cruise liners across the world as well as 6,600 travellers to the Port.
Since the last few years, there has been a steady rise in the number of passengers visiting Invergordon.
This year, it is expected that 142,000 tourists would head to Invergordon. The Port of Firth is only one of the two ports in the Islands and Highlands that are capable of accommodating the largest of the cruise ships. Bob Buskie who is the Chief Executive of the Port of Cromarty, Firth stated that the cruise sector plays a crucial role in the area of Cromarty and also across the Highlands that supports jobs in a number of industries including employees in the hospitality industry, golf clubs, transport providers and group handling staff.
