PLANS to bring Bantry’s cruise tourism figures up to 30 vessels a year, with 25,000 visitors, were outlined at a business breakfast meeting in Bantry last Thursday.
Conor Mowlds, chairman of Cruise Ireland, and a director of Bantry Bay Port Company, outlined how Bantry had 22 cruise liners visit in 2024, but a rise to 30 over the next three years could lead to 25,000 visitors and a €2.5m boost to the local economy.
He said Cruise Ireland would be covering the €30,000 cost of bringing cruise tourism executives to Belfast, Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Bantry and Galway in September to see what the areas have to offer in terms of access and local half and full-day excursions.
Mr Mowlds told members of the Bantry Business Association that they would have the opportunity to meet these executives and promote the area.
Mr Mowlds suggested that cruise tourism might, for a time, have been considered a poor relation but the fall off in tourism bed numbers has enhanced the cruise tourism industry.
‘The beauty of cruise tourists is that they bring their own beds and spend money, about €100 per head, while crew members spend about €30,’ he said.
Cruise Ireland is to commission another survey on visitor spending, and it is to work in closer co-operation with the local community and businesses for development and promotion purposes.
Mr Mowlds suggested that one way of developing the cruise tourism sector in a sustainable way in Bantry is to target expedition vessels because that is the type of passenger who will want to come to Bantry.
He said the benefit of these vessels is that they are of a size that can get in closer to shore, while the demographic of these passengers is good, in that they tend to be high net worth individuals who enjoy activities and excursions.
He said excursion companies would continue to take people to places like Gougane Barra and the nature reserve in Glengarriff, but they will also spend time in Bantry.
He said the rise in cruise tourism would off-set the drop-off in the number of tankers using Bantry, but in order to do that they would have to promote on-shore activities.
He outlined the success of Cobh, which has seen passenger figures grow from 9,552 in 1991 to 197,000 in 2024, which contributed around €20m to the local economy.
Cobh went from having 52 cruise liners visit the town in 2010 to 104 in 2024.
Mr Mowlds said its success was made possible by investment from the port in creating a dedicated cruise berth, as well as adopting a united approach to the development and support of cruise activities from the Port of Cork company, the local authority and local businesses.
‘We will work with the business community here in Bantry, and provide funding and support so we have something to sell – that is a key message from this morning,’ he concluded.
