MIKE SMITH: Business Focus – Inverness ready for post-Covid cruise ship visitors

By Mike Smith, Inverness Business Improvement District (BID)

The start of the Easter holidays saw a real boost in the number of visitors coming to Inverness with accommodation providers reporting increased occupancy with spare capacity being picked up at short notice.

Obviously the majority of those currently visiting are UK staycations but all providers are looking to substantial growth in international travellers as we move closer to the summer. Certainly bookings at our magnificent golf courses indicates very positive overseas demand particularly from the USA.

Interestingly there are many stories of international visitors having been forced to cancel visits over the past two years, now travelling and enjoying the delights of the Highlands.

A further tourism boost came with the return of the cruise liners to Invergordon at the beginning of April.

In 2019, the city centre’s official coach drop-off/pick-up facility in Ardross Street hosted 3000 coaches in the April to October season – 14 per cent up on the previous year and a staggering 86 per cent on its initial year of operation in 2016. That coach market is 66 per cent British tours and 34 per cent are coaches ferrying passengers from the cruise ships.

The good news is that a total of 115 liners are currently booked into Invergordon this season, exceeding the 109 vessels which docked in 2019. This bodes well for the coming season.

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