Fife will welcomes the first of 30,000 international cruise ship passengers to the Forth.
When Voyager arrives in Rosyth it marks the start of another busy season, with around 30 ships expected to bring thousands of passengers into the area until October.
And that can only be a welcome boost to the region’s economy as Fife Council’s tourism strategy aims to increase visitor expenditure by 33% by 2024, with cruise passengers seen as having an important role in that according to the council’s depute leader Lesley Laird.
Things were looking less rosy some years ago when a small group of locals, dismayed by the lack of a good Scottish welcome or any information or guidance for tourists, volunteered to man the Rosyth port and help visitors.
Since 2012 those volunteers have greeted ships and Cruise Forth has expanded rapidly, encouraging more local businesses to take advantage of the lucrative cruise market and see more visitor spending locally.
Now the Cruise Forth volunteers are national award winners, having taken the Scottish Thistle Warmest Welcome award. They are the public face of a partnership that has grown from a small project organised by the Dunfermline and West Fife Local Tourist Association to now include South Queensferry and Leith.
Project manager Peter Wilson said: “Our initial aim was to raise the profile of Dunfermline and west Fife with cruise passengers arriving at Rosyth and to encourage anyone who had not pre-booked excursions to explore what was available locally.
“We are becoming increasingly successful, with 3,000 passengers transported to Dunfermline alone over the last three years.”
The group works with businesses to show the potential of the cruise market.
Information on ships, what languages passengers are likely to speak and what currency they have is all available on its website to help local companies.
He added: “This year we are hoping that we will see more local shops welcoming cruise passengers and, as a result, increasing their share of this valuable market.”
Mrs Laird said: “Visiting cruise ships are now a familiar site on the Forth and at the port of Rosyth.
“It is really encouraging to see more and more Fife businesses seeing the potential from the cruise market and providing a product that visitors want.”
Forth Ports’ head of cruise Robert Mason said: “Rosyth and Leith have always been popular with cruise lines and business was growing each year with an expected 90,000 passengers visitings its Scottish ports this season.
“We have ambitious plans to grow our cruise business in Scotland.”