With a greater number of travellers seeking to cruise Wales as well as other parts of the UK, there seems an increasing chance that Wales will soon catch up with the long established European cruise ports as a desired destination in the popular leisure cruise market. In the British Parliament a special committee of legislators focusing on Wales have produced a report with such conclusions. The report indicates that the UK cruise market enjoyed strong growth over the last decade or so, and it recommends that efforts be made to secure more growth in cruise ship arrivals to strengthen Welsh port communities and economies.
If you are an enthusiastic cruise traveller just be aware that before you make early bookings to cruise Wales there is currently some difficulty with offering suitable facilities for berthing at some Welsh ports, where the infrastructure needs to be upgraded to cater for the fast growing fleet of big ships cruising European waters. “Celtic Wave” is a campaign led by Anglesey with a budget of around $2m and covering Irish and Welsh ports, which aims to attract more cruise ship visitors to these ports and their economic hinterlands.
In Cardiff the Welsh Assembly Government is urging the UK government to offer extra infrastructure investment to get ports like Holyhead on Anglesey, Swansea and Milford Haven up to a quality threshold demanded by the cruise line operators. There is a mega potential boost for local port economies, according to the conclusions of the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee, and their regional economies would benefit by making it easier for people to cruise Wales as part of the UK cruising vacation.
Over the longer term the prospects are for Welsh ports to emulate the success enjoyed by Baltic ports where there is an established and popular cruise market. From Holyhead in north west Wales via Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire and Swansea to Newport, Welsh ports can act as engines of economic regeneration when they encourage travellers to cruise Wales. In the summer of 2009 the first cruise ship visited Newport, and nearby is the Celtic Manor where the Ryder Cup will be held in 2010. Cruise passengers from Newport were able to visit the Millennium Centre, Cardiff Castle and other attractions in nearby Cardiff.
Likewise on arrival at Holyhead Port on Anglesey, cruise visitors can see some great sites such as the UN World Heritage Castles of Wales at Beaumaris and Caernarfon, Wales’s only working windmill at Llynnon, Llanddeusant, and South Stack Lighthouse near Holyhead. And you cannot forget the 125- mile long island coastal path set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the remarkable Oriel Art Gallery and Seawatch centre at Moelfre.
Financial support is available from the Welsh Assembly Government to help strengthen the berth infrastructure for the anticipated increase in cruise ship visits to Holyhead, particularly for making the former aluminium smelter suitable for docking. This jetty provides an excellent sheltered berth and is ideal for cruise ship passenger disembarkation. On completion this upgrade will see the Holyhead Port outer harbour pier strong enough to take mega liners such as the 285 m long Westerdam, which carries 2,000 passengers.
The future outlook looks very promising for potential UK cruise visitors planning to cruise Wales as part of their overall UK travel plans, and certainly Holyhead port will be ready to receive them as warmly as ever, as they embark upon their visits to the various sites of interest on and off the island.
Coming from the beautiful island of Anglesey Wales in the UK, the author, David Phillips, edits a helpful online resource focusing on local news and information. Find out more about organising to cruise Wales here to help make your vacation more pleasurable. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
