A cruise seminar bringing together representatives from the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors docked in Greenock to help businesses in Inverclyde and west-central Scotland prepare for visitors next year.

Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce joined the first of two events that took place at the Beacon Arts Centre on Wednesday (17 November 2021) to help organisations get ready for what is shaping up to be a busy cruise call season in 2022.

It was organised by CruiseForth with support from Inverclyde Council and Inverclyde Tourist Group through the ‘discover Inverclyde’ call to action and brought together representatives from the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, port operators, cruise lines, public transport providers and tourism bodies to help businesses become ‘cruise friendly’.

Provost Martin Brennan, who opened the event, said:

“It was wonderful to see so many different sectors and organisations represented and all with a common goal of showcasing what we have to offer here in Inverclyde and west-central Scotland to a wider audience.

“The number of cruise ship passengers, and indeed crew, docking at Greenock Ocean Terminal has grown substantially in recent years and will increase even further with the new cruise ship visitor centre, which is currently under construction.

“With that comes great opportunities for businesses to capitalise on and encourage our overseas or out of town guests to discover Inverclyde and surrounding areas and ensure they get that famous warm welcome to make them want to revisit time and again.”

The event featured keynote speakers, discussions with experts, question and answer sessions, and networking opportunities looking at areas such as excursions, foreign language excursions, marketing and voluntary groups.

Reflecting on the event, ICC CEO, George McKay said:

“It was fantastic to join this seminar to understand both the opportunities and to learn from the experience of CruiseForth.

“Inverclyde has a fantastic opportunity to further grow its tourism sector, and it needs current and new businesses to continue to collaborate in this way to achieve success.

“We’d like to thank Inverclyde Council and CruiseForth for their invitation and urge local businesses to get involved in the next event.”

For more information about visiting Inverclyde, log on to www.discoverinverclyde.com.