The beauty of the Scottish islands in the UK is world-renowned. The unspoiled nature of the islands is what draws many tourists here, but for some locals on Shetland, the sheer weight of visitors is beginning to take a toll. It’s putting pressure on local services such as transport and leaving residents unable to access other amenities.
Many are fully aware of the financial benefits the visitors from the cruise ships bring, but it’s a double-edged sword. The ships are a constant presence, and residents believe a balance needs to be struck.
The Scottish government says it’s considering giving local councils the powers to impose a levy on cruise ships after a consultation with the industry and other stakeholders, to maintain local infrastructure.
A quick poll of people near the port of Lerwick, the main town for the Shetland Islands, shows there is support for a levy.
Although the ships arriving here vary in size, some anchored in Lerwick Harbour carry 3,000 passengers, that’s almost half the town’s population.
Local businesses say the tourists have disadvantages as well as financial benefits.
Ross Manson, No88 Kitchen and Bar owner, says local customers are often deterred from coming to his restaurant because they think they won’t be able to get in because of visitors from the cruise ships.
He says, “… a lot of people don’t come into town on cruise boat days. So if you don’t have cruise booked passengers eating in the restaurant, then you’re absolutely dead.”
Other businesses say they’re able to expand and offer services off-season because of dependable cash brought in by tourists from the cruise ships.
Captain Calum Grains, the Chief Executive of the Lerwick Port Authority, says there is concern that a levy will deter ships from stopping at the island. Grains believes a levy might also convince operators to reduce the number of Scottish island ports they stop at.
He also says if the cruise ships pass on the cost to passengers, they might be put off visiting altogether, impacting the industry as a whole.
This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.
[Shetland coastal town and water]
[Cyclist riding by port and cruise ship]
[Pedestrians in town]
[Woman walking towards port where cruise ship is docked]
[Cruise ship coming into port]
[Pedestrians walking through town]
local resident (interview): “It’s good to see the increase in visitors, but at the same time we don’t have the infrastructure in place. So yeah, money would help for that.”
local resident (interview): “It’s got to be a balance but yeah, I think if people want to come they will pay. Cruise ships aren’t cheap anyway, so a small levy is not going to make much difference.”
[Stone cottage near port with cruise ship docked in background]
[Bus stopping at the side of the road]
[People queuing to get on bus]
[Tourists looking at map]
[Chef chopping vegetables and taking veg out of oven in kitchen]
Ross Manson (interview): “I think we calculated out roughly about 150 seats in restaurants or cafes at any one time, in Lerwick and some of the boats can be 3,000 people. So there’s a lot of people that sort of leave a wee bit disappointed, and a lot of people don’t come into town on cruise boat days. So if you don’t have cruise booked passengers eating in the restaurant, then you’re absolutely dead.”
[Coach operator Sonia Robertson starting up coach]
[Coach pulling out of carpark ]
Sonia Robertson (interview): “To be able to have the coach fleet that we have, that is very much dependent on cruise work. Other words, you’re looking at private hires and perhaps home to school transport. So to be able to have the robustness in your fleet, you need to have work there that can justify the investment in these vehicles. We certainly do not want to kill off our cruise sector. That’s going to have a huge effect on all transport operators.”
[Cruise ship in port]
Captain Calum Grains (interview): “I think most ports in Scotland are really quite worried, and the cruise line operators are worried it’ll be additional cost and what in a very competitive market. So it could result, we think, at a high risk of, reduced calls to the islands due to increased costs.”
[Ship]
[Ship from road in town]
[Stone cottage by port with cruise ship]
[People getting off boat]
[People on pier]
tourist with child in pushchair (interview): “Paying it for four people in a family, then £5 pound would be too much for me.”
tourist (interview): “I think it’s fair. For example, I’ve been to Spain like a couple of weeks ago and I had to pay tourist tax every day.”
tourist (interview): “I will pay for this because it’s good for the city.”
[Crowd waiting at coach park]
[People getting off boat in port]
[People at port]
[Boats at port gangway]
Emma MacDonald (interview): “One of the things that we have really looked at exploring is a point of entry levy. Instead, we think that that might be a better option than a cruise ship levy and a visitor levy, because that might be easier to implement in islands. So I think there’s a real need to look at this as a specific island factor, and how we can make sure we don’t impact us in a way that’s negative.”
[Island]
[Cruise ship seen from distance rising above the town]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.