NEW signage welcoming cruise passengers and crew to Greenock will be on display for massive ship Caribbean Princess visiting today (Saturday).

Under a new initiative involving Clydeport, Riverside Inverclyde, Inverclyde Council, Discover Inverclyde, the Oak Mall Shopping Centre, Inverclyde Tourist Group, and the Federation of Small Businesses, signs will be displayed around existing bollards in Grey Place and West Blackhall Street, backed up by extra signage within the Oak Mall, welcoming the passengers and crew each time a cruise liner comes to Greenock.

Additional, more permanent, signposts will follow.

In addition a number of shops will be displaying window posters indicating they are an information point with staff able to answer passengers and crews’ questions about the area. The staff will also have leaflets on a number of topics to pass on.

All the businesses involved have welcomed the initiative to help create an even friendlier and more helpful atmosphere for what will be some 65,000 cruise passengers and 20,000 crew visiting in 2012.

Chris Jewell, a director of Discover Inverclyde and a partner of Cradle Care in West Blackhall Street, one of the shops involved, said: “We want passengers and crew to feel even more welcome here. To be able to call in on a number of shops for information about the area will help make their time in Greenock more enjoyable and informative. And of course, as retailers we will work hard to offer them the best service we can and let them see all the wonderful things we have for sale.”

Any retailers not already involved who want to know more should contact Rosemary Grace of Inverclyde Council on 01475 715575.

Cruise Ships Visiting Greenock in 2012