Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Orkney taking tourism boom in its stride

Gareth Crighton, Chairman of the Orkney Tourist Group.
Gareth Crighton, Chairman of the Orkney Tourist Group.

Orkney is grasping its tourism destiny with both hands – setting an example to Skye and NC500 on how to cope with growing visitor numbers.

The islands’ tourism sector is currently in the process of launching a new ground-breaking initiative called Destination Orkney.

The new brand is bringing together the businesses with public and statutory bodies to shape the future of tourism in the isles and build on an already thriving, well-managed sector.

The number of visitors to the islands is rising rapidly, much of it thanks to the burgeoning cruise liner trade which has seen a record number of ships, a total of 140, call at Orkney’s ports in 2017 – bringing over 120,000 passengers who boosted the economy by an estimated £6million.

Thousands more are also arriving by the more traditional methods of ferry and plane.

Also, next year, tourism leaders expect to reap some of the benefits from the North Coast 500 route as Road Equivalent Traffic is introduced to ferries, which will drive down the cost of fares.

Gareth Crichton, chairman of the Orkney Tourism Group, said: “Tourism is very buoyant at the moment. We have had two very strong years, the strongest we have ever seen.

“We have been working hard for 30-odd years and we see a bright future. The sector sits quite nicely in what is a mixed community – including agriculture, food and drink, and many more industries.

“Tourism creates a local market for those producers who are also exporters.”

He added: “We have worked on our transport and connectivity and there is an ease to get on and off the island, as well as travel throughout.

“The transport system is well organised and is well placed to get tourists around the island with relative ease.”

Mr Crichton said the infrastructure for tourists has been in place for a number of years, and he praised Orkney Islands Council for their forward thinking.

He added: “I don’t see the growing number of visitors as a challenge, but an opportunity. There are already 11 sailings a day in and out of Orkney.

“It is not that expensive as a foot passenger, or even the motorist. It is considered a good price and will get much better with Road Equivalent Tariff.

“This will possibly open up the market for those taking part in the NC500 to think about crossing the Pentland Firth and enjoy the Orkney experience.

“We are currently seeing a number of campervans doing this already, but I expect that to increase next year.”

He said the increase in cruise ships was welcome, and the infrastructure of getting the passengers around the islands was working well.

But the tourism sector in Orkney is not becoming complacent.

Mr Crichton stressed: “I think we could do more and enhance services even more.

“The proposal for Destination Orkney is for a new management organisation that will bring together all the main public and statutory bodies – such as SNH, the local authority, Highland and Islands Enterprise, Historic Environment Scotland and RSPB – together with the industry.

“We are giving Orkney Tourism Partnership some more teeth. The business sector and the public sector in Orkney is willing to invest in tourism. It creates income, and it creates jobs.

“Destination Orkney is a work in progress. One of our biggest challenges is lengthening the season. Tourism is not something you just take out of, you have to put back in and invest. More and more tourism operators are prepared to that.”