Before we begin, I encourage Members to wear masks when they are not speaking. This is line with current Government and House of Commons Commission guidance. Please give each other and members of staff space when seated and when entering and leaving the room.
Royston Smith (Southampton, Itchen) (Con)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the contribution of the cruise industry to the economy.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Efford.
They say you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, and perhaps that should have been the theme of the pandemic. In Southampton, as well as in many other ports around the country, that was never more stark than when we saw the empty berths where once many cruise ships were tied up while embarking and disembarking passengers. Cruise ships have created an ever-changing landscape in Southampton, as the many and varied ships rotate through the port, and when that was missing it was extremely noticeable.
Cruise operations are of huge significance to the UK’s economy. The port of Southampton is the home of the UK cruise industry and the leading cruise turnaround port in Europe. Last year, the majority of all UK cruise passengers passed through Southampton, with the port accounting for 83% of all cruise passengers in 2019. However, it is not the only port to benefit from cruise: Portsmouth, just down the road, Dover, Tilbury, Newcastle, Dundee, Edinburgh, Belfast and Liverpool all benefit from the revenue that cruise brings to their local economies. It is estimated that each turnaround visit for a cruise ship in Southampton brings £2.7 million to the local economy, and much of that will stay local. Its importance cannot be underestimated.
Southampton is like many post-industrial cities of the north, which is why you will hear me repeat that levelling up is not about geography but about opportunity. My constituents depended on manufacturing jobs, from shipbuilding to motor manufacturing. Southampton was the home of the famous Ford Transit van, but Ford, Vosper Thornycroft and Pirelli Cables & Systems are all long gone. That is why the port of Southampton and the cruise industry are so important to our economy and the employment prospects of my constituents.
In a port city like Southampton, one is never more than a few feet away from someone who makes a living from or has their standard of living enhanced by the cruise industry: from Solent Stevedores to the many taxi drivers, dozens of suppliers, Associated British Ports operators, students with jobs in hospitality and retirees working in the terminals during busy times—part time, full time, young and old. The cruise industry in Southampton is integral to our economic success.
However, it is not just our local economy that benefits from the cruise industry. Cruising brings in over £10 billion per year to the UK economy and supports nearly 90,000 jobs. In December last year, Cruise Lines International Association told the Transport Committee that pausing cruise operations between March and September 2020 resulted in £6.7 billion of lost expenditure and 52,000 job losses. Carnival Cruise Line alone employs over 1,100 people at its UK headquarters in Southampton and has over 2,000 British seagoing officers. That is not insignificant. We can calculate the economic benefits, but it is more difficult to put a price on the joy that cruising brings. In 2019, before the pandemic struck, nearly 2 million passengers passed through the port of Southampton alone. This figure is expected to grow to 4 million a year by 2050, and ports are already investing to take advantage of that growth.
9:38 am
Ronnie Cowan (Inverclyde) (SNP)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith) on having secured this very timely debate. My interest is local, national and international. It is local because of my home town of Greenock, the biggest town in my constituency, with its very long and very proud maritime history. It is the major port for exports in Scotland, and it hosts a growing cruise ship industry. Scotland hosted 817,000 cruise ship passengers in 2019, and Greenock hosted 144,000 of them, the second most in Scotland after Invergordon, with 168,000, and way ahead of Edinburgh, with 139,000. However, we have not finished quite yet: we are expanding the docking facilities in Greenock, and building a new visitor’s centre and a reception building. If I get my way, we will redevelop a local tobacco warehouse and a sugar refinery building to form the beginnings of a culture quarter within walking distance of cruise ship berths. Naturally, we are greedy to generate greater local financial benefits from the cruise industry, but we are prepared to invest to make that happen.
Scotland-wide, we have much to offer, as indicated by the investment in Aberdeen harbour. Around 27 cruise lines operating 67 different vessels will call at Scottish ports as part of a cruise in one year. That contribution is valued and should never be taken for granted. While we continue to exit from covid, and domestic cruising has increased, we must acknowledge that international cruising is hugely important. In years to come, Scotland shall remain a welcome host to all our friends and neighbours from foreign countries, from Sorrento to Southampton.
As the cruise industry continues to grow, it presents us with many opportunities and just as many challenges, but there is an issue that we cannot ignore. All operators of cruise ships need to address the environmental damage that their vessels cause. Disappointingly, the Paris agreement did not address aviation or shipping. I am pleased that the maritime industry will be at COP26 and will set a zero target for emissions for 2050.
Although I understand the cost of transition, I implore the industry to be more ambitious: 2050 is too far away. By 2050, if we do not hit our targets to reduce global warming, my port of Greenock will be underwater. Plans are in place for fuel cells to provide the energy to run the hotel aspect of cruise ships and Governments to have a duty to ensure that the power required to charge the cells while docked comes from clean, green renewable energy.
In conclusion, it is easy to point fingers and blame others but, if we are to continue to enjoy cruising in domestic and international waters, we require a collaborative approach from local ports, cruise ship operators, energy providers and Governments, forged by ambitious environmental targets. That way we can cruise with a clear conscience, safe in the knowledge that we are enjoying the beauty of our planet while protecting it for future generations.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I congratulate my neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith) on the brilliant work he has done in highlighting the massive contribution that the cruise industry makes, particularly to us in Southampton.
As I came in this morning, I was struck by the memory that one of the first debates I led in Westminster Hall was on competition in the cruise industry. It is great to see so many towns and cities from around the country with ports that play their part. Of course, I will always re-emphasise that Southampton is the capital of cruising in the United Kingdom. It is important to reflect that there are many hundreds of jobs in my constituency, even though it has no coastline and does not contain the port, that are reliant on the cruise terminal at ABP.
What we have seen over the past year or so has been really difficult for those employed in the sector and the large companies based in and around the port of Southampton, as well as all the smaller suppliers that have been so reliant on the sector for income over the past decade of massive expansion in the popularity of cruising. As my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen said, cruises are not just for wealthy pensioners but for all ages and demographics, who really enjoy the opportunities that cruising gives. In my constituency in 2019, 28 different small suppliers with a value of £11.9 million supplied the cruise industry. Last year, their incomes fell dramatically to just £6.9 million. We can understand the devastating impact on the local economy.
About 18 months ago, I remember being quite critical of the difficulties we had in repatriating cruise passengers and getting cruise ships into ports around the globe so that passengers could make it home. However, as the Government’s maritime biennial report indicates, following the repatriation of UK national passengers, Carnival alone repatriated more than 19,000 UK people and 13,000 international crew members last year. That was an enormous effort. The company has been pleased to continue to work with the Government to learn the crucial lessons of covid. The industry has learned to ensure that, should there be a resurgence of this or any other hideous virus, there are new protocols in place, so that we do not see those scenarios again. To bring all those passengers home took a massive financial investment and no small human effort.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I also congratulate the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith) on securing this debate.
In recent years, the cruise industry has become one of the most important and, occasionally, controversial parts of the visitor economy in the Northern Isles. I suspect we are not the only community around the coastline to find ourselves in that position. The industry has grown over the years, starting with just a few ships and gradually growing to more and bigger ships. As a consequence, we have lacked a strategic approach to the development of that particular part of the visitor economy. It is nobody’s fault, but it is a little like the frog in water that just gets warmer—eventually, we realise that there is a severe impact. A good number of local businesses in Orkney and Shetland are now highly dependent on cruise traffic. There are also a number of self-employed tour guides who have grown an industry that simply was not there before. They have certainly missed cruise traffic; its return will be important.
In all things we should try to find the positive from the negative. The absence of cruise ships since March 2020 and the beginning of their slow return is something that we should take opportunity from. I would like my communities to take a much more strategic approach to engaging with the industry, and, by the same token, I would like to see better engagement from the industry with my communities. In the past, the larger operators would often say “These are our terms of business; people can either take them or leave them. If they do not want them, we will not come to their communities.” I hope that as those operators rebuild and as we rebuild our relationship with them, we may be able to see that done rather differently.
There are real opportunities for some of the most economically fragile communities in the Northern Isles: places such as Fair Isle, which has a population of about 60 people. A small cruise boat coming into dock there can have a tremendous impact and can be a real opportunity. However, again, to get the maximum benefit from a visit from a cruise ship, communities like that will require a bit of support from outside agencies. Local councils, VisitScotland, the local economic development agencies, the Scottish Government and the UK Government should all be pulling together to find a new strategic approach that will allow every community in the country that engages with the industry to do so in a better, more strategic way. That way, the very different needs and opportunities that will go to a place such as Greenock or Southampton are not ones that will operate to the disadvantage of communities such as mine.
9:51 am
Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this morning, Mr Efford, and a great pleasure to contribute to the debate, ably moved by my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith). I do so as the chairman of the all-party parliamentary maritime and ports group, but also as a Member of Parliament for Thurrock and particularly the port of Tilbury, which is home to the London cruise terminal. I will happily concede to my right hon. Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes) and my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen that Southampton is, indeed, the capital of cruising. However, by the same circumstance, Thurrock is the ports capital of the UK. It is only natural that cruising forms part of that.
We have heard already this morning about the difficulties faced by the industry during the pandemic and I want to pay tribute to its stoicism when grappling with the issues caused by the pandemic. Dare I say that its behaviour contrasts rather favourably with that of the aviation sector, which has been loud and noisy about the challenges it has faced? Fair enough, but the fact that the cruise industry has not been as vocal about the difficulties that it has faced does not make them any less difficult.
As we have heard, the industry stopped sailing in March 2020. The skyline in Tilbury was transformed, because we were home to seven ships that should have been sailing the high seas but were permanently docked there. That included two ships owned by Saga, one of which had yet to take its maiden voyage. It was a challenging time but we were pleased to host them. However, it is fantastic news that we finally have the cruise sector sailing again and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Minister for his real efforts to achieve that.
I have been in debates about the industry. Only last week, we talked about how the silo culture in Government often means that the sector does not get the support it necessarily deserves. That has been particularly true in this regard. We have had the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Transport all having an influence on whether the industry could sail.
Although the Department for Transport has been an extremely effective and enthusiastic champion of the sector, unfortunately the decision making about whether sailing could take place really rested with the Department of Health and Social Care and the question of whether it was safe. We have already heard that cruising is perhaps the safest method of travel. In fact, we know that the industry has made great investments to make it so, reducing capacity to enable social distancing on ships and so on. The medical facilities are also second to none. Obviously, the Department of Health and Social Care and the chief medical officer have the objective of disease control, and they took a risk-averse approach to whether the sector could get going.
I congratulate the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith) on securing this debate. I always bring a contribution from a Northern Ireland perspective and I can honestly say, with my hand on my heart, that the cruise sector has an impact on my constituency. I want to explain the importance of it, and how we wish to grow it so that we can all benefit.
To me, like many people, the idea of a cruise after the past number of months seems like a dream. Well, that dream could become a reality under the correct circumstances and if safety measures are in place. The boost that will bring to our local economy will be a welcome shot in the arm for my constituency of Strangford. That is why the Northern Ireland perspective is important.
Before my hon. Friend begins to elaborate on Strangford, as he is wont to do on every occasion—obviously, he is right to do so—does he agree that the boost to Northern Ireland tourism per se from cruise tourism has been tremendous? We have the “Game of Thrones” filming locations, the Titanic, Giant’s Causeway and the walled city of Londonderry, all of which benefit from cruise passengers who arrive either at Belfast port or Foyle port to acquaint themselves with the great sights in Northern Ireland.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I will enlarge on that in relation to the constituency of Strangford. He is right to mention the walled city of Londonderry, “Game of Thrones” and other things around Northern Ireland that cruise ships and those who are on them can visit. It has become a growth industry for us—at least, it was before the pandemic. We hope to grow that over the next period of time.
I am pleased, as always, to see the Minister in his place, and I look forward to his response. I also look forward to the shadow Minister’s speech, because he has an interest in this subject matter and in Northern Ireland. I am perhaps coaxing him to come in on that.
To back up the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell), between 2016 and 2019 the cruise market in Belfast grew by 136%—a massive increase—bringing in an increasing number of international and first-time visitors to the region. It is becoming a key contributor to the region’s tourism economy. An estimated 275,000 cruise visitors arrived in Belfast harbour in 2019 as part of a Britain and Ireland, or northern European, cruise itinerary, bringing an estimated £15 million into the local economy. We are clearly building on that and see its importance for the economy.
For my constituency of Strangford, those on the cruise to Belfast commonly come down the Ards peninsula. There are two key places that they wish to come to. One is historical: the abbey in Greyabbey, a Cistercian monastery dating back to the early years. The Montgomery family, of the close by Rosemount estate, have a particular interest in it as it used to be part of their estate. It is now run by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, but the Montgomery family keep an interest. There is also Mount Stewart, which is run by the National Trust, and, I believe, has become the jewel in the crown for visits to the constituency of Strangford.
Thank you very much for your excellent chairing of this debate, Mr Efford. I thank the hon. Member for Southampton, Itchen (Royston Smith) for securing the debate.
I think my colleagues from Scotland, the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) and my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde (Ronnie Cowan) missed a trick: they did not talk about their UNESCO world heritage sites, nor did they talk about the quality of their coffee, which I am sure is truly wonderful, in Orkney and Shetland and in Inverclyde—as well as in Aberdeen, of course.
I also did not expect that we would be talking about Disney songs, so I will hold myself back from bursting into song. I could not think of an appropriate maritime song to sing, but I am sure my children will correct me later and tell me I have missed one—probably from “Moana” or “The Little Mermaid”.
Rather than focusing on covid, I want to talk and think about pre-covid and post-covid, what the cruise industry will look like and the benefits it will have for our communities. It is undoubtedly a massive success story. Between 2014 and 2019 we saw 90% growth in cruise ship calls and passenger numbers in Scotland. That is a staggering increase, and it shows the increase not only in the popularity of cruise ships, but in the ability of Scottish ports to take those cruise ships in and of Scottish communities to ensure that we provide the best possible services.
In Scotland, the cruise industry supports more than 800 employees and generates around £23 million gross value added for the Scottish economy. It also extends the tourism season in Orkney and Shetland. However, the key thing for me and for the SNP is that sustainable cruise tourism development must be the overarching requirement. I appreciate the different situation that Southampton and even Inverclyde find themselves in, in that they are cruise ports and less destinations—I am sure Inverclyde is a destination and so is Southampton, but they are involved in servicing the industry more than, say, Orkney and Shetland.
The hon. Lady touches on something very important. The capacity for cruise ship passengers to spend money when in port is very often determined by the terms of the contract that they have with the cruise ship. That is why I say that in rebuilding the industry and looking at the impact it has on different parts of the country, we need that sense of partnership. We need our communities to be talking and to be able to influence the ships, as well as the other way around.
I absolutely agree, and I thought that the right hon. Gentleman’s speech was very thoughtful on that matter. He has really thought about the needs of his community. That is why I stressed that we must not have a race to the bottom. We do not want our ports fighting over who can give the cheapest terms because that will only hurt our communities; it will mean that our communities do not see the benefit. It would be much more positive if they worked together, both as local communities and in a more overarching strategic way, as he said.
It is really unfortunate that we have not had much co-operation between the UK and Scottish Governments on green ports, in particular when we have been clear about the key things that we want: a focus on net zero and a focus on the real living wage. It is completely reasonable to say that people working in and around green ports, cruise ports or any other kind of port should be paid the real living wage. One of the biggest concerns that I hear, in particular on—slightly off topic—oil and gas supply vessels, is that people are not paid appropriately because they are on tickets from other countries and therefore they are paid less.
We need to make sure that we bear down—I do not like that phrase—on that and reduce the number of people not being paid a wage that they can live on. We need to ensure that we have laws and rules to fix that problem in a maritime way, and that the people working in ports are paid the real living wage, not the national living wage. It is such an important industry, and it is one that will continue to grow. We need to make sure that we see the benefits for the people working directly in the industry and for the communities seeing the visits.
People travelling on cruise ships get to visit some of the most inaccessible places across the UK—no offence to the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland. They get to visit places that cannot be reached by hopping on a bike or a train. It is really important that the people who are travelling on these ships and the cruise companies recognise that these communities are fairly rural and cannot necessarily deal with that influx without support. This is a really positive industry; it is a massive success story, particularly for Scotland and its more rural communities. I would like to see it continue to grow, but we probably need to work more with local communities to ensure that they see its benefits.
10:15 am
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Recently, the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Robert Courts), opened the port of Southampton’s fifth and latest cruise terminal, aptly named Horizon. The state-of-the-art terminal is fitted with more than 2,000 solar panels on the roof, generating more power than it uses, and it has shore power for ships to plug into while in port.
The demographic of the cruise market has changed. No longer is it the preserve of older people and wealthy pensioners; it is now the fastest-growing sector of the tourism industry and is particularly popular with families. During the efforts to restart cruise, the industry worked closely with the Minister and Government and welcomed the Prime Minister’s road map out of lockdown. Domestic cruises were permitted again from 17 May this year, and the cruise industry has gone on to demonstrate how safe it is and how prepared it was to resume its operations. It has introduced stringent measures to keep passengers and crew safe. The UK Chamber of Shipping published a covid-19 framework for the industry that made cruise ships the safest environment in the travel and hospitality sector. Those measures include pre-embarkation health checks, masks and social distancing, and guests are encouraged to use hand-washing facilities and hand sanitiser dispensers at venue entrances. Cruise ships also have excellent medical facilities, including intensive care units on most ships. All adult passengers are required to be double vaccinated, as are the crew. Although it was disappointing that the increase in covid infections last winter meant that cruises were unable to resume, the industry used that extended period to further improve its protocols, learning from the pandemic as it progressed.
While we understand and acknowledge the disappointment of those who saw their holidays cancelled during the pandemic, we should not overlook the awful time that crew have experienced. The depressing sight of cruise ships anchored off the south coast, visiting a port every few weeks to offload waste and take on fuel and supplies, will be one of the most enduring and disturbing images of the pandemic.
Many crew members have also found themselves disadvantaged by the loss of the seafarers earnings deduction. Seafarers are normally entitled to a deduction from their tax bill; however, this is linked to time spent at sea outside of the UK. Through no fault of their own, many failed to meet the required qualifying period. The Government will therefore benefit from a windfall to the detriment of our seafarers. That has caused some crew members to reconsider whether a job that requires them to be away from their families for prolonged periods is worthwhile at all. It is putting even more pressure on the recovering industry, and driving British sailors to overseas companies and competitors. Retention of existing seafarer professionals is not the only issue: recruitment is becoming a challenge too. One captain has said that without the SED, it is now hard to attract university graduates to embark on a seafaring career.
In conclusion—it does no harm to repeat this—the cruise industry is a UK success story, employing tens of thousands of people and contributing billions to our economy while giving the very best holiday experience to customers. I know that the Minister was as pleased as me to see the resumption of our nation’s fantastic cruise industry, and that he will continue to support it, as he has done throughout the most turbulent time in its history. I hope that he will use his influence with the Chancellor and the Treasury to secure a seafarers earnings deduction waiver, temporarily waiving the requirement to be outside the UK for a period of time in order to qualify. Our seafarers must feel valued for what they do, and receive recompense for the sacrifices they make in the way they would have had the pandemic not happened.
It is important to look to the future and not focus on the challenges that there were but at the opportunities ahead. I was pleased to hear Carnival use the word “celebrate”. It is celebrating the reopening of international cruising. It has enjoyed a summer where UK passengers have been able to experience the waters off the British Isles and visit towns and cities on our own islands, but we have to get back to full-scale international cruising.
I am pleased to see the protocols and measures put in place to keep passengers safe. They include pre-departure testing, rigorous cleanliness onboard and encouraging sanitisation and hand washing. My hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen was right to point out that the medical facilities onboard those ships are second to none. In many cases, they have intensive care units that one would expect to see only in hospitals. It is important to emphasise that cruising is now the safest form of transport. It has the potential to start regrowing and to contribute to the UK economy again, which we so desperately need.
I want to re-emphasise the massive changes to the environmental impact that we have seen. On tours of cruise ships docked in Southampton I have seen the efforts that go into minimising consumption, maximising recycling and ensuring that their waste is treated as sustainably as possible. Huge strides have been made not just by the cruise companies but by the port, which has reduced its emissions into the atmosphere of Southampton.
I want to reiterate the economic point that my hon. Friend made. There are questions around the support given to British seafarers, but over the next few months we could see them making an unexpected windfall net contribution to the Treasury. We desperately need mechanisms in place to encourage British seafarers to stay in the industry and new people to arrive. In the local area, I can name some inspirational British female seafarers, working in an industry that is not known for having large numbers of female sea captains. They exist and they do a great job. It is important that they are not driven out of the industry by unexpected additional taxation just because they have not been able to be at sea in international waters for the required number of days. I would like the Minister to consider that point, and I look forward to his undoubted words of wisdom about how bright the future of cruising is for Southampton.
I would like to finish with a “thank you” to the Minister. He is always there for the great events—the happy celebrations, opening new terminals and launching new ships—but over the last year or so he has also been there for the difficult times. I know how hard he and the Department for Transport have worked to ensure that the industry can restart in a safe and sustainable way.
There are all sorts of opportunities from the industry, but we have to accept that there is a diversity of opportunities and all need to be accommodated. This is the point at which we can reboot that relationship, and I hope Governments and other public agencies, the industry and communities can all work together to do exactly that.
The most difficult thing was the travel advice issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which treated our cruise ships not as a mode of travel but as a destination. It was pretty unfair to do so given that, as we have heard, they are a safe method of travel. In terms of the destinations that a cruise ship will visit, the amazing thing about ships is that they are very flexible, and if a destination suddenly becomes red, they can go somewhere else.
At last common sense has prevailed. I hope the Minister and the Department for Transport can reconfigure their relationships with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department of Health and Social Care, so that the situation the sector faced is not repeated. In August 2020, the industry showed the Minister’s predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood (Kelly Tolhurst), the safety measures that were being put in place across the industry, and nobody could have doubted the effort being taken and the safety they would generate. Alas, it took a long time to persuade everyone else, but lessons have been learned.
The difficulties that the sector has faced have led to some cruise companies going, and a number of vessels have been scrapped, but the industry’s optimism is striking and inspirational, given the difficulties it has faced. Just this weekend, the Disney cruise ship left from Tilbury, which was great to see. Lots of children went to wave it off, because it was accompanied by lots of Disney tunes, which was lovely. I am pleased that, at last, the Spirit of Adventure has commenced its maiden voyage and is currently sailing around Scotland.
I am pleased that we have had this opportunity to pay tribute to this fantastic sector, which is much neglected. I hope that we shall continue to celebrate its contributions in the future.
Significant investment has been made to portside facilities in Belfast in recent years. I visited the Belfast Harbour Commissioners’ area before the pandemic along with my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast East (Gavin Robinson) and others who had an interest in that. We were impressed, by what the Belfast Harbour Commissioners were prepared to do.
In recent years, they have built on those facilities, including opening the first dedicated cruise facility in Belfast harbour in 2019—again, just before the pandemic. More than £800,000 was invested in upgrading the quayside facility at the new cruise terminal. The Belfast Harbour Commissioners recognised the need to do something in Belfast to build on what they had, so they spent their money on this specifically, enabling larger cruise ships to dock in Belfast.
The upgrade includes a visitor information centre, with £152,000 funding from Tourism NI, representing an important development of the city’s cruise tourism infrastructure—we clearly recognise it in Belfast, and further afield—and using the latest digital and audio-visual technology to showcase Belfast and Northern Ireland’s visitor attractions. The investment yielded results, as Belfast was named the best port of call in the UK and Ireland in Cruise Critic’s 2019 Editors’ Picks Awards—quite an achievement, and, again, we want to build on it—with Northern Ireland leading the way.
The importance of cruising to my constituency of Strangford lies in the fact that there is an easy, fast route to see what was described by the UNESCO world cultural heritage tentative list as
“one of the most spectacular and idiosyncratic gardens of Western Europe and universally renowned for the ‘extraordinary scope of its plant collections and the originality of its features, which give it world-class status’”—
that is, Mount Stewart. I am sure my colleagues in this Chamber are saying to themselves “I’m going to visit Strangford as soon as I can. I’ll make my way there.” I will give them the details shortly, Mr Efford, on how they can enjoy what I pass every day when I am at home. I was at Mount Stewart last Friday with the National Trust. It is probably one of the most beautiful gardens around.
I say that of my constituency unashamedly and proudly, and I look forward to inviting the Minister to visit someday. I am sure that he is itching at the chance—he is probably giving a diary date to his PPS as we speak! To further butter up the area, when he comes to Mount Stewart, he can come down to Greyabbey because it has some of the most fantastic antique shops and coffee shops in the Ards peninsula. He can make a really good visit, spend his money, have his coffee, which is second to none, and visit the antique shops, which also have antiquities and provide historical interest. It is somewhere of some importance, and our abbey has the best example of Anglo-Norman architecture in Ulster.
Those stops are currently on the cruise line itinerary, and, indeed, there were 51 visits in one season. It needs to be pushed more, in my opinion, but that is something that my colleague, Councillor Robert Adair, the deputy mayor of Ards and North Down Borough Council, is working on—drawing more attention to our wonderful area.
Tourism is central to the policy, strategy and planning of Ards and North Down Borough Council, because we see it as the key to a bigger boost for the economy, more jobs and opportunities, and money being spent in the constituency. The policy also moves further afield and goes for the entire United Kingdom. I understand the attraction of a warm Mediterranean sun—we all do—but the beauties of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are incomparable, and I believe a UK-wide strategy of welcoming cruise ships will be beneficial to us all.
We look to the Minister’s response, and I am sure it will encompass the benefits of cruise ships across the whole United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I will warn him of the question I want to ask him: what discussions has he had, or could he have, with the Deputy Minister back in the Northern Ireland Assembly, to advance us where we could do it better?
It is no secret in this House that I am a great believer in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, better together. I love my colleagues in the SNP to death, I really do; we have a different point of view on the constitution, but I love going to Scotland for visits as well. I want us to stay together, so the question is how we can do this better together for the benefit of everyone. That is what I would like to see.
I have long questioned the efficiency of Tourism Ireland’s partnership with Tourism NI for the promotion of Northern Ireland ports. I am not convinced that it is doing all it can to make that happen, and perhaps it could do it better. I urge the Minister to consider a UK-wide cruise promotion campaign with Northern Ireland as the central port of interest—no pressure there, Minister.
When people are presented with the option to come to our beautiful shores, enjoy our world-renowned hospitality and cuisine and get a taste of our wonderful, rich history, I believe it will not be turned down by anyone. That is why some of those first-time visitors want to come back. Now is the time to attract those cruise ship visits, build on the ones we have and increase them, and the local economy will be the beneficiary.
We need to ensure that the tourism that we see from cruise ships and cruise passengers benefits those local economies, and that local economies see the plus points of that. We have seen issues around Scotland with things such as the North Coast 500, which is excellent but has brought problems as well as positive benefits to those areas. We must ensure that we strike that balance for local communities.
Cruise ship stays make up 15% of overnight tourism volume in the highlands and islands, but they represent a much lower percentage of the overnight tourism spend there. I understand that that is the nature of cruising; that is how it works. However, we cannot see a race to the bottom between Scottish or British ports trying to allow cruise ships to come as cheaply as possible, without people visiting their local areas. We must see the benefit to those local areas. Although having cruise passengers on an island or in a community in Scotland is a great thing, it can also be unsettling for the residents and that local services are more stretched as a result. We need to make sure that balance is struck.
The harbour in Aberdeen is split between my constituency, Aberdeen North, and Aberdeen South. A new harbour is being built in Aberdeen South that will be able to accommodate 300 metre vessels with a maximum 10.5 metre draught. Before that was being built in my city, I did not know a huge amount about the cruise industry or how it worked for local communities. I continue to be concerned that areas around the new harbour in Aberdeen—among of the more deprived communities in the city—will not gain from the new harbour and cruise ships in the way that I would like them to, given what they have had to give up for it to be built, with the number of road closures and work that has been going on. I would like to see those communities benefit.
My hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde mentioned the culture quarter, and we need to support local communities in doing that, to ensure that cruise ship visitors can spend money in the local area. That is what we need to see: the economic benefit coming to those areas as a result.