Cruising in Orkney — is Stromness being sidelined?

Is Stromness being sidelined from the cruise liner jackpot?

The sector brings in an estimated £12 to £15 million a year to the Orkney economy — but some Stromness business owners say they are reaping little to no reward from the ships that dock there.

Smaller cruise ships regularly dock in the West Mainland port town, but is this giving the community the wrong impression?

“The ones that come into Stromness — they’re just a false economy,” said Lesley Clark, who runs souvenir shop Leviathan International. 

“We don’t get any trade off them at all really. The shuttle buses will go down to the pier, collect them all, ship them out, bring them back here — and then off they go back to their boat.

“So, no, we don’t see anyone off the Stromness cruise ships — just the Kirkwall ones really.”

Tourism’s symbiotic relationship with trade in Stromness is undeniable. Despite their undeniable enthusiasm for summer visitors, The Orcadian was told by a number of businesses that a lot of the benefit of cruising for the town hangs on the balance of passengers’ itineraries. 

“They’re not getting enough time”

Suzi Lee, jewellery designer

For some passengers, it is simply a pit stop at the start and end of their Orkney adventure. Others may spend more time waiting to use the loo than they do browsing the shops due to the dearth of facilities at other tour stops. 

But, according to Lesley, one cruise company in particular, Viking, puts Stromness front and centre of its Orkney day trips. 

“They’re actually organised beforehand that the buses pick them up and do tours all day long into Stromness, so the whole street should benefit from the Viking ships,” said the shop owner, from behind a counter filled with Orkney branded merchandise, including Orkney flag phone cases and  sew-on Twatt sign patches. 

“They’re good spenders too the people on these Viking ships.”

“The ones that come into Stromness — they’re just a false economy”

— Lesley Clark, Leviathan International

Beyond souvenirs, Leviathan does a rare trade with visitors in general when it comes to Orkney ice cream and fudge. Similarly, overnight visitors appear more likely to stop in for a bite to eat and coffee at Julia’s — but cruise passengers are reluctant to spend what little time they have in town queuing for food.

Barista Alasdair Seator feels that the tourism trade is something that Stromness could not survive without.

“It’s massive boost definitely compared to what we’d get without tourists, because we do stay open throughout the entire year, but it’s very dead in the winter.

“Without tourists, I’m not sure we’d be able to survive.”

Still, Alasdair isn’t sure the shed-based cafe is seeing as much of the cruise benefit as folk might assume, despite its prime location near the harbour.

“There are cruise ships that come into Stromness, but it’s normally the bigger ones that come into Kirkwall that bring the most business, because of the coaches. 

“Even then, it’s normally the Viking ships — because the people working there doing the tours, they tell them where to go, and if they don’t tell them to come here then they just don’t come here. Maybe a few stragglers, but they tend to just walk along the street, near Argo’s and The Quernstone and that.”

Businesses in the main street in Stromness also shared a varied picture with us. It would appear that many cruise passengers get as little as 40 minutes at the end of their day in Stromness, and clock-watching may put them off strolling too far down the street.

“Without tourists, I’m not sure we’d be able to survive.”

— Alasdair Seator, Julia’s

Some on Ferry Road and Victoria Street were reluctant to speak to go on the record, but a wander to Alison Moore’s Stromness headquarters brought us a familiar face.  

Sarah Wylie, who chatted from behind the counter of the jewellers’ Kirkwall shop for our first feature in this series, was working in Stromness when we visited. 

Like in Kirkwall, she feels that cruise tourism here can be a mixed bag for businesses selling higher value items like jewellery. 

“It really depends on certain days,” she told the newspaper. 

“Certain cruise ships too — when their itinerary is busy they have about 20 minutes or half-an-hour sometimes in Stromness, which limits them even wanting to walk up the street, but others do. 

“When you are here for such a short period of time, it’s understandable that you want to stick to one zone.”

Further along the street, the Waterfront Gallery is enjoying its last visitor season under its current ownership. Filled with vibrant Orkney artwork and crafts, tourism brings a vital boost to business, but it seems cruise ship passengers are rarely wandering that far. 

“The limitation is people actually being able to come into the shop — and shop peacefully,” said shop assistant Danushia Kaczmarek.

“Everybody’s clock watching — ‘we’ve got six minutes, we’ve got eight minutes’ and they don’t relax enough to even have a look round properly enough.”

“There’s more than Kirkwall”

— Jeanne Bouza Rose, AT 59 / Lollie & Laine

Strolling back northwards, artist Jeanne Bouza Rose tells us that cruise visitors do make it to her shop at 42 Victoria Street — but she feels there is a lack of time and available information for passengers to truly take in the town. 

She says there is no doubt that the representatives who meet passengers in Kirkwall are doing great work, but that the closure of VisitScotland’s tourist offices in both towns has left a gap.

She feels that there ought to be better printed information at their finger tips, and perhaps better signage Kirkwall Bus Station, to show “there’s more than Kirkwall”.

In fact, she and other businesses have published leaflet highlighting Stromness, which she would desperately like to see in more passengers’ hands. 

“They were getting leaflets, but those leaflets didn’t work for cruise passengers, because it took them way out of Stromness and around the harbour. 

“We needed something more relevant.”

Beyond cruise tourism, Stromness has a tenuous relationship with the industry as a whole. Chatting more broadly, Alasdair the barista shared his concern about the sustainability of business in the town year-round.

“Everybody’s clock watching”

— Danushia Kaczmarek, Waterfront Gallery

This year has brought boosts to the street including the opening of the VP&Co cafe in the former Bank of Scotland building, the unveiling of an outdoor searing area at the Ferry Inn, and expansion plans for Stromness Books and Prints. But it remains to be seen whether this will be retained in the quieter winter months, where visitor numbers are low and much of the town’s holiday lets stand empty.

“There’s the Hamnavoe restaurant closing down, the Stromness Hotel not serving drinks anymore,  and multiple other stuff,” said the Stromness native, who fears that many of the attractions that once drew in locals over winter have disappeared in recent years.

“There’s not much reason to just come into Stromness in general anymore.

“Like, I don’t think I’d be in Stromness either if it wasn’t my job.”