Letters / Negative effects of cruise ship visits
I’ve just read the article on cruise line passengers displacing locals from public transport services in Shetland.
Councillor Armitage suggests that the long-term solution is to provide extra services.
Experience tells me that any extra services provided would suffer the same issue.
The issue of negative effects of volume tourism, and cruise tourism in particular, is one that is being debated globally, with many cruise destinations taking the decision to limit, or in some cases prohibit, cruise ship port calls.
As you can see from the attached letter, published in this week’s Orcadian, the monetary value of volume tourism is often overestimated.
Councillor Armitage appears to believe that local services and infrastructure should be altered so accommodate the needs of cruise companies.
This is surprising, given Mr Armitage’s political affiliation, and the sorry record many of the cruise lines and individual cruise ships in relation to environmental transgressions.
Many areas in Scotland, including Orkney and Shetland, were practising sustainable tourism long before it was given that label.
That market in Orkney is suffering markedly directly due to the negative effects of cruise ship visits.
It’s about time a stance was taken against these transnationals who believe they can trample over anything they see fit.
Leslie Sinclair
Kirkwall
Increased demand from cruise passengers blamed as buses too full for wheelchair user
