Head of cruise and ferry, Andrew Williamson, said 94 cruise ships will call at the port this year.
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00:00Really excited for the upcoming year it's great to see that we've got
00:02continued growth in the cruise industry, increasing our calls from around 80 last
00:07year up to 94 in the coming year. New brands, smaller ships as well as big
00:12ships which is exactly the market we've been going for, so the luxury boutique
00:16sector, the numbers speak for themselves that we've proven to be quite successful.
00:21You mentioned new brands coming up to the port, some of them Seven Seas,
00:24Swan Hellenic and others, why do you think these new brands have chosen to
00:28call up Portsmouth or what's set yourselves apart from other places?
00:32So we've worked hard to establish ourselves as a port for the luxury and boutique sector
00:35of the cruise industry and we've set us apart from some of our rivals, so we're able to
00:40give them a bespoke package when they visit the city, looking after them
00:43exactly as they need and with our local facilities, world-class attractions,
00:47it's a perfect port for them to visit.
00:50Is that due to things such as like the visit port of liaisons
00:54with people helping the tourists when they get off the ship and go around the city?
00:57Is that the sort of offering, a more unique offering than other places?
00:59Exactly, that personal touch, the welcome that the Shipping Portsmouth Ambassadors give
01:04has been really warmly received by the cruise lines and their passengers,
01:07as has the departures from the city when everybody's out on the hot walls waving
01:10the ships off, it sets Portsmouth apart and it keeps us in people's minds.
01:14So as you say we've had phenomenal growth in the cruise sector but we're very conscious
01:19that we need to do that growth sustainably, so the shore power system will allow the ships to
01:23plug in, switch off their engines when they're alongside which will improve the air quality in
01:27the city and help with the port's general environmental credentials.
01:31So last year was also a busy year for the port with more people never coming to choose to go
01:36off on their holidays from here or step off, what has been the reaction from tourists and
01:40residents in Portsmouth to all the stuff that the port was doing last year?
01:44So the feedback we get from the locals, local people of Portsmouth has been pretty positive
01:49for cruise, as I say they go out to wave the ships off when they sail away which the passengers
01:53really really enjoyed to see, especially the Americans, seeing them waving with the union flags.
01:58But yeah it's been the people are staying local, spending money in the city, supporting local
02:03attractions, supporting local businesses and that's what we're trying to do part of the BT coffering.
02:09You mentioned tourists spending money there, it was estimated that roughly 1.5 million
02:13comes in from each cruise call and obviously some of that money will go to Portsmouth City
02:17Council which can then be passed on to other services that the council offers. Do you think
02:23that that amount of revenue will only increase year on year and residents of Portsmouth will
02:28actually see that in their day-to-day lives and not just at the port itself?
02:32Yeah absolutely, with the cruise ships that come in as you say, there's a certain number of industries
02:37that benefit from taxi drivers picking up passengers at the port, taking them to the train stations,
02:41local hotels, restaurants, crew going shopping in town, as well as visiting the local attractions
02:47trying to emphasize that there's a local offering rather than going further afield and stay local
02:51in Portsmouth, so that's part of our key messaging to the cruise lines. And finally the port has been
02:57regularly expanding its offerings with the shore power coming up but also the carbon neutral
03:00terminal that was opened recently. If the port keeps on getting this year-on-year growth in
03:06its cruise schedule, what are some of the potential other things that the port could
03:10be looking at to expand itself? So as you say we've invested heavily over the last few years,
03:14we're trying to constantly improve the offering to cruise ships, could that be from increased
03:19car parking facilities to new gangways, new structures to make the passenger experience
03:24even greater. As you say we've seen a huge amount of growth in the short space of time,
03:29it'll be interesting to see what's next around the corner.