VisitAberdeenshire will attend the Seatrade Cruise Global in Florida later this month with Aberdeen Harbour, to strengthen its cruise product, and attract cruise ships to Aberdeen in a bid to take a greater share of the £32m Scottish cruise industry.
This will be the first time VisitAberdeenshire has attended the largest exhibition of its kind, which takes place from March 13 to 17, and attracts top industry professionals from around the world. The global cruise industry is a new tourism market for VisitAberdeenshire to target, and comes on the back of the announcement that plans for the £350m extension to Aberdeen Harbour has been given the green light. The new port will be key in attracting large cruise ships to the North-east, which could be docking alongside Aberdeen city in less than three-years.
Jenni Fraser, business development director of VisitAberdeenshire says, “Aberdeen Harbour is one of the busiest ports in the UK, attracting over 8,000 vessels in 2016, but only 12 cruise ships docked here last year. We have a significant growth opportunity thanks to the Aberdeen Harbour extension plans to attract the more commonly used large cruise vessels, which wasn’t possible before as the current port is too small to accommodate these ships.
“We believe the new port and Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will be of real interest to cruise providers, as it will allow ships to dock on the quayside rather than rely on a taxi boat service like many other ports throughout the UK. Passengers can step off the boat and be in the city centre in less than five minutes. While the strong tourism products in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will give cruise passengers plenty of attractions to explore, including castles, festivals, coastal tours, whisky distillery tours, golf courses and our strong royal connections in Balmoral.”
For more information on VisitAberdeenshire, visit www.visitabdn.com.