Visit Scotland Chief Executive Malcolm Roughead visited Inverclyde as part of his 2019 Listening Tour.

Malcolm met CalMac’s managing director Robbie Drummond before travelling to Kip Marina, Inverkip, to see managing director (and ICC president) Gavin McDonagh, and marketing manager Kevin Blamire.

In the afternoon, Malcolm met with Directors from Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce to discuss the ambitions of local businesses in the tourism industry within Inverclyde. ICC Directors also had the chance to discuss the implications of the planned Ocean Terminal Building on the Greenock Town Centre and expressed the concerns of local tourism businesses.

This was followed by a visit to Inverclyde Council where Visit Scotland heard about future plans, issues faced and opportunities for the region with a particular focus around cruise tourism and Year of Coast and Waters 2020.

As part of the Glasgow City Region Deal investment, £15 million has been secured to develop a new cruise terminal facility in Greenock. It is forecast that 100 cruise ships per year will visit Inverclyde by 2020.

Greenock Ocean Terminal will house a permanent museum and restaurant dedicated to the work of renowned local sculptor George Wyllie. The new terminal could attract £26million extra spending to the economy, according to Inverclyde Council.

The day was concluded with a visit to the New Chocolate Company in Port Glasgow which is the only chocolatier to receive a Five Star Quality Assurance grading from VisitScotland.

Malcolm said:

“This was a great opportunity to speak to key members of Inverclyde’s tourism industry and learn more about their upcoming plans, as well as the challenges and opportunities they face.

“I was pleased to see a real appetite for the Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 and I look forward to our continued work with the region to make the most of Scotland’s next themed year. “

“At VisitScotland, we want to champion collaboration and promote local areas to ensure the positive impact of tourism is felt across the country.”

Parts of this article appeared on Inverclyde Now on 31st October 2019.