Our sustainable journey is going from strength to strength with Hebrides Cruises retaining Green Tourism Gold status in 2024, for the third year in a row with high pass rates in all categories. Winning the “Green Family Business of the Year Award” at The Herald Scottish Family Business Awards in November 2024 was a real boost in having our efforts recognised. The judges said:
“Hebrides Cruises has been awarded Green Family Business of the Year for their commitment to sustainable tourism and local sourcing. With a compelling story rooted in ecological care, they’ve enhanced their green initiatives year-on-year, achieving 100% green tourism standards and detailed carbon management”
For 2024 we continued with our established environmentally-friendly systems to ensure we maintain our sustainable goals while working all the time to improve them, with crew and guests working together. Our guests really appreciate our use of seasonal, local produce in the delicious menus served on board, which also reduces food miles. This made us think we could design a food cruise itinerary to be specifically environmentally friendly.
Therefore we have introduced a new “In Search for Seafood” 4-night cruise for the April 2025 season. This will not only showcase the incredible seafood to be harvested in our cruising areas but is focussing on sustainably sourced seafood, gathered as we cruise. Guests will have the experience of picking up sustainably grown mussels and oysters from honesty boxes, while the Skipper pops over the ship’s gunwale to hand-dive for scallops. Local fisherman come alongside with lobster, langoustines and crab as well as fish in season. This focus on sustainable food produce is of course part of all our cruises. Our guests are also appreciative of the complimentary wine served at dinner. Sea Change wine not only tastes excellent, it is ethically sourced and environmentally conscious, supporting ocean conservation through direct partnerships with key ocean and marine focussed charities.
The itinerary of our new 10-night cruise ‘In Search of Giants: Expedition Cruise’ was also specifically designed to support the environment. It sailed in August 2024 to provide valuable research into the migratory routes of whales in the far west coast waters. Guests aboard not only experienced exceptional wildlife encounters, but helped influence the survival of marine species by taking part in vital research on whale migration. We were delighted that this cruise was shortlisted at this year’s ‘RSPB Nature of Scotland’ Awards as a finalist for the Nature Tourism Award. Our 2025 ‘In Search of Giants: Expedition Cruise’ cruise has sold out so we have put a date on the 2026 calendar. The year-on-year research data will be very valuable in assessing the return of whale populations on these migratory route.
All our crews are WiSE accredited so that while we are cruising we ensure we do not disturb or distress the wildlife we encounter. Something that fascinated our guests this year was the lengths our crews go to, to ensure our presence does not disturb Manx Shearwaters during fledgling season. When the fledglings leave their burrows in the Small Isles and begin their migration to South America, they can be distracted by bright lights which can cause them to land on vessels from which they find it hard to take off from again. During September and October when we are anchored off the Small Isles, our crews take steps to reduce light pollution from our vessels to prevent young birds from becoming disoriented and landing on board. Crews check the decks each morning and if a young bird is occasionally found on deck it is carefully released back to the sea. See the illustration, top left of the page, of a Manx Shearwater by Lynsey
Much of our sustainable improvements are ‘behind the scenes’ dealing with difficult issues such as waste, water and carbon emissions. We have made great progress in these areas in 2024 and continue to work further to reduce these impacts in 2025. Having equipped our vessels with solar panels and LEDs, we are exploring new technologies like lithium batteries with Bluetooth monitoring for greater efficiency.
Currently we are into the time when we maintain our vessels and our sustainability goals apply here too. All the materials we use are scrutinised for unnecessary travel miles, packaging and damaging ingredients and we use local companies and trades people for vessel maintenance. Lucy Mary, our third vessel was chosen for her green credentials including low fuel and energy consumption and we are working to ensure our other two vessels area) at the same level of sustainability. All our vessels are now fully hybrid in terms of energy sources.
Over this winter we will be focussing on
a) energy-efficient heating systems; upgrading to systems that reduce energy consumption while ensuring guest comfort.
b) eco-friendly toilets; new installations aboard Lucy Mary which will lower water and power usage.
c) stabiliser upgrades on Elizabeth G and Lucy Mary to provide smoother, more fuel efficient journeys with minimal disruption to the marine environment.
It’s fair to say that our guests are also integral to our sustainability goals. They take on board the information in our guest charter for responsible tourism, suggesting how they can minimise their environmental impact while visiting the Hebrides. Many of our guests are keen to engage and often share valuable feedback and suggestions. Our guests also love to be educated on the wildlife, nature and environment that they experience while on board and spread the message to others about the importance of choosing a holiday which prioritises conservation.
Retaining the Green Tourism Gold Award for the third consecutive year not only highlights our ongoing environmental initiatives but also underscores our commitment to providing an eco-friendly experience for our guests.
Read our news page on being awarded Green Tourism Gold for the 3rd year
Please convey our thanks to Rob, Stevie, Phil and Alex for their efforts to provide a fantastic week afloat. The crew’s efforts made our week on board a time to remember and look back on with complete satisfaction. Despite the weather doing it’s best to disrupt our trip, the crew confirmed their absolute ability to put us amongst the wildlife of the area. Rob’s command of the vessel and knowledge of the area ensured that we were at all times safe and comfortable. As a retired chef, I did my utmost to test Stevies ability in his galley, to his credit, the food produced was excellent, his attention to our dietary requests exceeded our expectations. With visibility offen quite poor, Alex our guide did a steadfast job, remaining outside in all weathers whilst spotting the wildlife we had come to view.
David Tovey: 22 September 2018