Thousands of cruise passengers to disembark at Galway from May
By Martina Nee
The local economy will to benefit from a major boost with the influx of more than 6,000 tourists arriving on cruise liners into Galway Bay during the months to come.
It was revealed this week that a plan to install new pontoons at Galway Docks has been submitted to Galway City Council. The pontoons are needed to facilitate the transfer of an estimated 6,000 tourists from a number of cruise liners which will sail into Galway waters from May onwards. The Galway Harbour Company, which has been campaigning for many years to attract lucrative cruise liner business, has submitted the pontoon plans in an effort to facilitate the cruise liners that have confirmed their arrival into Galway throughout this year and into 2013. The €200 million port development proposals, which could see Galway being transformed into a permanent destination for international cruise liners has been beset by a number of delays with suggestions that a planning application to An Bord Pleanála will not now be made until after the summer.
Last July Galway Harbour’s capacity to facilitate cruise liner passengers was tested when the French registered vessel Le Diamant arrived at the anchorage off Mutton Island with passengers then ferried ashore. It is hoped that the pontoon plans submitted to the council this week will improve on the harbour’s efforts and enable cruise liner tourism to continue while the dock redevelopment proposals are being completed.
The first cruise liner is the 5,888 tonne ship Arion which is scheduled to arrive in Galway on May 21 next. The next ship to arrive on May 25 will be the Prince Albert II which is also due to return into Galway Bay with a fresh batch of eager tourists later in the year, on August 25. The Bremen will sail in on June 7 with the Cruise and Maritime Voyage (CMV) owned vessel Marco Polo to follow on July 12 for a 12 night ‘Emerald Isle’ discovery cruise. August 17 will see two cruise ships coming into Galway bay, the Discovery and Le Diamant. The MV Explorer will sail in on August 31, Le Diamant again on September 5, The World cruise liner for July 8 and 9, 2013, and Princendam on August 12, 2013.
The confirmation of the large passenger liner The World is a major coup for Galway Harbour Company who has said it is a “glowing endorsement of Galway as a cruise destination” and an affirmation of the long standing belief that “Galway will become a regular port of destination for the cruise sector on completion of the port proposals”. The World will also anchor at Mutton Island with passengers being brought ashore for a two night stay in Galway which in turn is expected to bring about a major injection into the local economy. According to research conducted by Galway Harbour Company Galway, given the proper infrastructure, could conservatively welcome around 35 cruise liners annually with the potential to generate up to €9.9 million from visitor spending and creating sustainable employment