homarus Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 They'd be better off buying back the steam Packet and giving free travel too and from the IOM ,if they want tourists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monasqueen Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 The only possible benefit I can see would be that the berth could be used for larger ferries which could be used by the Liverpool-Belfast route as a stopover? I can't see what cruise ship passengers would spend their money on other than coach tours, coffee and buns and a TT 'T' shirt? You really think that the big Irish Sea operators are going to royally p*** off their passengers and risk losing them to their competitors by 'calling in' to the Isle of Man and adding hours to their journey? You are living in cloud-cuckoo land.....it will never happen. I only said that was the only possible benefit, I, like you, am not a shipping consultant but I would never say never. It opens the port to larger vessels and means that we don't have to have bespoke ships built to enter Douglas. Even if you can get larger ferries/freight ships into Douglas you still have to get those same ships into the ports that are used across. Heysham is size limited (and depth now some of the time). Liverpool has limitations - at present the Pier Head can only take a fast craft, and the Birkenhead Berth is only a stop-gap for Winter weekends. The new Liverpool berth, when finished, may take bigger vessels, but it is close to an area of residential redevelopment and the new residents do not want freight movements on their doorstep (or in their back yard). Holyhead could probably take the larger ferries, but most of our residents and freight suppliers would complain about the road journey along the North Wales coast before they could get to or from "anywhere". As so well put by Silver Surfer, expecting the Irish ferry operators to deviate via IOM would be incredibly stupid, as most of their users want to get between A) and B) as quickly as they can, without adding 2 or 3 hours (or more) to the journey by coming via C). We should, however, be considering whether we can start proper passenger and freight services between IOM and Belfast and/or Dublin. That means accompanied freight/containers, coaches, etc.... A mostly untapped potential market, which may in fact start to take off with Brexit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbie Bobster Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 They'd be better off buying back the steam Packet and giving free travel too and from the IOM ,if they want tourists. This. Kinda. There may very well be spinoff benefits from building this sort off facility over and above visitor spend, but there's likely to be many better ways of spending the money with greater impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asitis Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I sincerely hope our great elected tread carefully in their interpretation of what 'consultants' tell them. Perhaps they should recall the Tynwald vote in 2006 which permitted airport growth and expansion to cater for what according to the experts should have been in excess of 1.75 million passengers per year now, rising to 2.5 million by 2030. A number of us told them it was utter fantasy, but the project by then had gained a momentum of its own outside the vision of common sense and reason. Lessons should hopefully be learned from those experts !! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannin1 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Why would we ? we cant even run our hospital ffs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monasqueen Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I sincerely hope our great elected tread carefully in their interpretation of what 'consultants' tell them. Perhaps they should recall the Tynwald vote in 2006 which permitted airport growth and expansion to cater for what according to the experts should have been in excess of 1.75 million passengers per year now, rising to 2.5 million by 2030. A number of us told them it was utter fantasy, but the project by then had gained a momentum of its own outside the vision of common sense and reason. Lessons should hopefully be learned from those experts !! Isn't it good, Norwegian wood rock. We need a few boat loads of rock again, for a new airport extension deepwater quay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Dear oh dear. £50 million? A fool and his money soon parted. As Stu just said to a bloke who thinks we could sell a lot of fridge magnets. "You'd be needing to sell an awful lot of fridge magnets to recoup your 50 million." It would bring business for the trams and trains but not enough for an investment of this magnitude. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notwell Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Why would we ? we cant even run our hospital ffs You say that like running a hospital is challenge only on the Isle of Man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notwell Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Dear oh dear. £50 million? A fool and his money soon parted. As Stu just said to a bloke who thinks we could sell a lot of fridge magnets. "You'd be needing to sell an awful lot of fridge magnets to recoup your 50 million." It would bring business for the trams and trains but not enough for an investment of this magnitude. It doesn't need to cost £50m. It is something work looking in to. It should also not be purely at the expense of government. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x-in-man Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Cruise ship passenger will pay about 180 dollars for a trip up the mountain. They get fed on board. They don't spend anywhere enough when they are on shore to warrant spending anything over what we have already spent on a cruise terminal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lxxx Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 This is a no brainer. If we are serious about bringing tourists back to the Isle of Man, this is a very good way of doing it. The bucket & spade brigade are long gone. Cruise ship passengers spend excessively whilst ashore. Make it happen Laurence. Yep. A few flat whites, a couple of Blueberry muffins and a flapjack from Costa, per couple of passengers, will have that pensions black hole covered in no time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I read a lot here why we shouldn't attempt such a venture, yet there seems to be little in the way of how we do grow tourism on the Island. The negativity is quite incredible. It is not just about the 5 or 6 hours these people spend on excursions or strolling through Douglas, there is a longer term benefit here. We have an idyllic Island which I'm fairly certain these passengers would note and choose to return in the future. I agree. This is sustainable business if it's developed & handled in the right way. Here's the 2017 schedule for Liverpool: http://www.cruise-liverpool.com/cruise-call-schedule/ Liverpool is an internationally known destination with huge art, music and architectural culture. The Isle of Man is a backward looking twee anachronism. Sure there will always be a small market for that, but cruise passengers want big name destinations. The Scottish Islands only do as well as they do because they are a natural stop over point when cruise ships transit between summer European and Winter Caribbean destinations. Think about it. Cruise liners can and do call in to both Liverpool and Dublin which are iconic places to visit. Do you really think cruise passengers will want to waste another day of their itinerary to cal in to the Isle of Man only a few hours from each of the much more exciting destinations? So those vessels that have been visiting our shores hitherto have been wasting their time and their customers' money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lxxx Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Surely the berthing dock wouldn't need to be built here. I'm sure I read somewhere it's feasible to build these kind of things elsewhere in some far flung dockyard in eastern Europe for peanuts and ship it here to put in position? Is the £50m the cost when you add in consultancy fees and cuts for the middle man? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmanx Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Surely the berthing dock wouldn't need to be built here. I'm sure I read somewhere it's feasible to build these kind of things elsewhere in some far flung dockyard in eastern Europe for peanuts and ship it here to put in position? Is the £50m the cost when you add in consultancy fees and cuts for the middle man? Will cost a lot more after Brexit mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lxxx Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Surely the berthing dock wouldn't need to be built here. I'm sure I read somewhere it's feasible to build these kind of things elsewhere in some far flung dockyard in eastern Europe for peanuts and ship it here to put in position? Is the £50m the cost when you add in consultancy fees and cuts for the middle man? Will cost a lot more after Brexit mind We haven't left Europe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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