THE Royal Yacht Britannia, which opened to the public in Edinburgh in 1998, is on target to make a £500,000 profit, according to its director, Bob Downie.
It is proving to be one of the success stories in a tough period for Scottish tourism. The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, owners and trustees of the vessel, have managed to overturn previous trading losses and build up a healthy cash balance for future
maintenance work.
Last year Britannia was awarded the coveted five star rating from VisitScotland. It is one of only a handful of visitor attractions north of the Border that hold this distinction, alongside Edinburgh Castle.
The Royal Yacht was originally brought to Scotland by Forth Ports after a campaign throughout the UK to win the coveted prize.
Manchester came close, but Forth Ports clinched the deal at the last minute and gifted the yacht to Leith. It is now run as a charitable trust.
Downie was instrumental in creating a new visitor centre and shopping outlet. The corporate hospitality market is another goal and a tie-up package between Britannia and Gleneagles Hotel is working well.
Downie aims to grow the yacht as a visitor attraction and at the same time create interest throughout the UK and internationally for corporate hospitality packages.
"We receive repeat bookings from the Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, Royal Bank of Scotland, Honda, IBM and VW, and hope that trend will continue," said Downie.
"No matter how you feel in the morning, it is still good to see the most famous ship in the world continuing to fulfil such a special role after 44 years of active royal service in Leith."
Endorsements about the corporate hospitality available on Britannia are music to Downie’s ears. The boat is available for receptions, gala dinners, product launches and business breakfasts.
James Thomson, boss of the Witchery restaurant said: "I received the service I have always dreamed about but never had."
Downie said the yacht’s move to a berth next to the Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh’s £120m waterfront shopping and leisure development in Leith, had breathed life into the attraction, with year-on-year visitor numbers up 20% on 2001. They were badly hit by foot and mouth, but the attraction has now had 1.2 million visitors, 50% more than originally expected.
"It has been a fantastic year and I think we will finish the year with 300,000 visitors, making it our second-best year since opening," said Downie
There are nine decks on the yacht and only five are open to the public as yet, but Downie said there were plans to open more.
"We have to keep reinventing ourselves. We need to keep refurbishing but staying in line with what was there before. It costs over £300,000 a year to keep Britannia maintained in a high quality standard."
The move to Ocean Terminal coincided with the opening of another deck level, including the sick bay, Royal Marines’ barracks and petty officers’ mess. Downie said: "It is a complementary process. I firmly believe Ocean Terminal might not have happened if the Royal Yacht was not brought here."
Now up to 40 liners dock close to the terminal, which welcomed luxury cruise liner The World to Leith harbour last month.
Downie said: "This brings valuable tourists into Edinburgh, through the shopping at Ocean Terminal, and is proving to be very popular with visitors who can now see the contrast between the royal apartments and the yachtsmen’s mess areas."
Ocean Terminal, a joint venture between Forth Ports plc and Bank of Scotland, is one of Europe’s largest waterfront developments, opening its doors to the public in October last year. It is the centrepiece of the ongoing regeneration of Leith Waterfront and provides 444,000sq ft of shopping and leisure space.
After a shaky start, the centre now has 85% of the available space accounted for and footfall is in line with the projected figures for the first year. There are three new lettings on the first floor which include Viva Sofa, Boredom Free Zone and The Bear Factory.
Viva Sofa, a Sofa Workshop concept which specialises in contemporary furniture, has taken a 2,000sq ft unit. The only other shop is in Notting Hill, London.
Boredom Free Zone and The Bear Factory, part of Hamleys, are both 1,200sq ft and have been leased over 15 years.
Centre manager Dennis Jones said: "We are delighted to welcome these new retailers on board. Eighty five per cent of Ocean Terminal’s available space is now accounted for and the centre is well on target.
This further increases our offering to customers and with another 10 deals on the table, including some major new names, we are set to widen our appeal. The fact that 65% of our customers are ABC1 sits well with our retailers."
