Hansard

We could have been spared the story of Mr Gibson’s ventures down to the nudist beach on Arran.

I too welcome this brief debate. As Orkney’s MSP, I certainly need no persuading of the importance of marine tourism to our economy, and in particular to the local economies of our island and coastal communities.

Like other members, I will focus on the constituency dimension to the debate, given the success that Orkney has enjoyed in developing marine tourism by playing to its strengths in terms of its natural resources and the skills of its people, working in harmony with the former and constantly looking to broaden and enhance the latter. Success also requires investment in appropriate infrastructure, although there do not appear to be any plans to follow Arran’s lead in setting aside facilities for adventurous nudists.

Orkney offers interesting examples of the sort of challenges that can arise from success, but I will start—as the motion encourages us to do—by reflecting on the enormous opportunities. Orkney was once described by the Lonely Planet guide as the

“glittering centrepiece in Scotland’s treasure chest of attractions.”

There are many reasons for that, of course, but the richness of our marine environment is certainly one of the main reasons.

In recent years, increasing numbers of people have come to enjoy wildlife tours organised by an expanding group of small local businesses. They are run by individuals with a wealth of expertise, which helps bring the experience to life for visitors. This year, a pod of orcas has been the stand-out attraction for visitors and locals alike. Sightings around Scapa Flow have been frequent—including yesterday’s sighting off Hoxa Head—and the photos posted on websites and social media have been utterly breathtaking.

An interesting aspect of the way in which the marine tourism sector has developed in Orkney has been the extent to which local people have taken an increasingly close interest in what is to be found around their shores. That, in turn, has the added advantage of ensuring that tourists are able to draw on a far wider range of local expertise, from the professional to the wholly voluntary.

The presence of orcas may discourage some from venturing into the water but, despite that, Orkney enjoys a fantastic reputation for diving, thanks in particular to the many wartime wrecks to be found on the seabed of Scapa Flow—a legacy of Orkney’s strategically important role as the base for the grand fleet and the Atlantic fleet during the first and second world wars.

At this point I will make a specific request of the minister. Having a dive sector of such significance as well as a marine renewables industry—with which the minister will be very familiar—creates a need for hyperbaric facilities in Stromness. To date those facilities have been funded locally, with national funding being directed to the hyperbaric chamber in Aberdeen. However, Orkney now deals with half the overall number of cases, and the funding distribution is therefore increasingly hard to justify. I encourage the minister to look at how that can be addressed.

I will finish with a couple of other success stories. As has been the case in other parts of the country, Orkney has invested heavily in marina facilities, which are currently located in Kirkwall, Stromness and Westray. With a 50 per cent growth in visits in the past two years, and more growth anticipated, further investment in infrastructure will be needed to cope, and I understand that a further marina in Shapinsay may now be on the cards. All of that helps to provide additional opportunities to grow and broaden the benefits from the sector.

Similar opportunities—as colleagues have mentioned—are being seized elsewhere in Scotland. That competition is healthy, and it makes Scotland a more attractive proposition by opening up the chance to plot routes, taking in different communities and enriching the overall experience.

Something similar also seems to be happening in relation to the cruise-liner market. As Stuart McMillan explained, Inverclyde and many other ports are witnessing impressive growth, but the pace of the growth in Orkney is truly phenomenal. In 2009, we hosted 29,000 cruise-liner passengers and 10,000 crew. Those figures have risen to 80,000 and 30,000 respectively, and a record 87 liners have confirmed their intention to include a stop in the islands next year.

Although I firmly believe that that has benefited the islands that I represent, I am aware that it has brought challenges too, particularly shoreside. A limit has already been set on the numbers of people who can be allowed ashore at any one time but, even with that limit in place, an influx of 4,500 people into a community of just over 20,000 can be hard to accommodate without causing disruption to the local population or potentially compromising the quality of experience for visitors.

An example of where the current infrastructure really has struggled is the availability of coaches. Whereas on the Scottish mainland, additional coach capacity can be increased relatively quickly as and when required, that is less straightforward in the islands.

The minister will be aware of these concerns from his meetings with Cruise Scotland, but I urge him to look at what can be done to help places such as Orkney to deal with the issue. One possible option might be to look at how it can be used as an opportunity to promote investment in electric vehicles, thereby helping to deliver on green or ecotourism objectives. I do not expect to get an answer from the minister today, but I would be grateful if he would agree to ask his officials and relevant agencies to reflect further and report back.