Cumbria is to get its first cruise terminal, which would bring up to 50,000 extra tourists a year to the honeypot sites of the Lake District.
The £8 million development will be in Barrow-in-Furness and should open in 2007 or 2008, acting as a gateway to the Lakes for overseas visitors taking cruises around the UK or further afield. Initially, it is hoped that 25 ships, each carrying up to 2,000 people, would call at the port annually, rising to 30 a year by 2020.
Nearly 16 million people visit Cumbria each year, and of those 8.5m head for the Lakes, with the main attractions such as Lake Windermere, the Beatrix Potter sites, Ambleside and Hawkshead becoming overrun in peak months.
'There is a perception that the Lakes get overcrowded, and it does get busy,' said a spokesman from the Cumbria Tourist Board. 'But it is manageable. Of course there are the honeypot sites but there are many attractions spread across a wide area.'
Jill Perry, of the West Cumbrian branch of Friends of the Earth, said: 'The Lakes are already operating at capacity, and it's hard to see what these visitors would do for a day. They won't be fell walkers so will pour into the popular areas, making them even more unpleasant.'
Officials insisted that the move would take advantage of the huge global growth in cruising. 'This is a project that stands to benefit the whole of Cumbria as well as Barrow. In particular it will raise awareness of the county as a cruise destination. This firmly puts Cumbria on the map as a destination for European cruising,' said Terry Toohey, director of cruise development for the Cumbria Tourist Board and chairman of Cruise UK - the VisitBritain initiative aimed at bringing more cruise ships to the nation's ports.
Reports have estimated that for every 10 cruise ship visits, more than £3m could flow into the local economy.
Mind the gap (between rich and poor)
A surge of interest in overseas community projects and fundraising trips over the past month has been attributed to the influence of Live 8 and the Make Poverty History campaign.
Development charity ActionAid said the numbers on its charity treks had doubled, and half the members of Year Out Group, an umbrella organisation for companies that arrange volunteer projects, reported an explosion in inquiries. Camps International said interest in its community projects had overtaken that in wildlife and eco projects. One volunteer said: 'Live 8 made me realise that we have a responsibility to help local communities.'
