London Development Agency June 2009 AN ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT AND FUTURE CRUISE SHIP REQUIREMENTS IN LONDON In conjunction with: 5 Market Yard Mews 194 Bermondsey Street London SE1 3TQ Tel: 020 7642 5111 Email:
[email protected] CONTENTS 1. Introduction 3 2. Current cruise facilities in central London 4 3. The organisational and planning context 8 4. The cruise market and future demand 11 5. Views of cruise operators 19 6. Potential for growing cruise calls to London 22 7. Assessment of potential sites 24 8. Lessons from elsewhere 37 9. Conclusions 51 Appendices: Appendix 1: List of consultees Appendix 2: Seatrade cruise market report Appendix 3: Location plan of potential sites Appendix 4: Economic impact study Appendix 5: Overview of costs The Tourism Company – Assessment of current and future cruise ship requirements 2 1. INTRODUCTION This report was commissioned by the London Development Agency (LDA) and Greater London Authority (GLA), with support from the Port of London Authority (PLA) in response to a need for a better understanding of London’s future cruise facility requirements. This need is identified in the London Tourism Vision for 2006-2016, and associated Action Plan 2006-2009, under the theme ‘A Sustainable and Inclusive City’, one of whose objectives is to ‘Increase the profile and usage of services along the Thames’. London currently hosts a relatively small number of cruise ships each year, making use of the informal and basic mooring and passenger facilities at Tower Bridge and Greenwich. The aim of this research is to assess the extent to which the lack of a dedicated, more efficient cruise facility is discouraging operators from bringing cruise ships to London, and if there is latent demand, how might this be accommodated.