Views of the bridge

Effie Kennedy, general manager of the Eilean Iarmain hotel on the Isle of Skye, has sent all her promotional literature to be reprinted. It now bears a reminder that the Skye Bridge is open.

Advance bookings at the Eilean Iarmain are 25% up on the same time last year, and overall business is about 6% higher. But few bridges have caused more controversy than the one linking Scotland's western coast at Kyle of Lochalsh to Kyleakin on Skye.

When the £25m private- and state-financed bridge opened last October, locals paraded their cows over it as a protest against what they considered extortionate tolls.

Although there are still a number of summer ferry services linking Skye with the mainland, many hoteliers and islanders regret the death blow that the opening of the bridge dealt to the island's state-subsidised main ferry operator. They argue that it had represented a romantic, all-year-round form of travel.

But tempers appear to be cooling and a pro-bridge pressure group has emerged. It wants the crossing, but without the tolls. "Free the Skye Bridge," it urges, calling for an end to the £10.40 summertime return fare for cars.

Whatever the content of the current debate among the island's inhabitants, many of Skye's hoteliers are benefiting from the 20% rise in visitors over the past year.

According to the Scottish Office, coaches are encouraged to the island by the availability of the bridge and visitors are staying later in the day because they no longer have to deal with the traditional evening ferry queues to get off the island.

Observations at the Eilean Iarmain seem to back up the Scottish Office's assessments. Occupancy levels at the hotel are consistent with last year's, but Kennedy says the day-tripper boom that has come with the bridge's opening has improved passing trade.

"We used to have to wait an hour-and-a-half for a ferry service. I'm sure that put people off," she says. "Now we have more day visitors because it's easier to come from places such as Inverness."

Day trippers have also brought a welcome increase to Eilean Iarmain's food and beverage operation. The hotel now serves about 150 bar meals a day, 50% up on the pre-bridge days. Bar opening hours used to be restricted to lunchtime but have now been extended to cover the entire day.

As a result, the kitchen brigade, which had operated with two full-timers, one of whom was devoted to bar meals, has practically doubled. Kennedy now employs four full-timers and one part-timer, with two of the staff working on bar meals.

Margaret MacDonald, joint proprietor of the Duntulm Castle Hotel, also believes that the upsurge in business at her 28-bedroom hotel is due to the bridge's opening. August was a "tremendous" month, she says.

"I would say that people are enjoying the fact that they don't have to sit and wait [for a ferry] for hours. They can plan their journeys much better.

"Some people are missing the romantic dream of coming over the sea to Skye, but it tends to be the older people who have been coming to the island for years. Younger and Continental people are happy with the bridge."

At the Greshornish House Hotel, the management believes the bridge has helped increased business. But Campbell Dickson, proprietor of the five-bedroom hotel, is unsure it will last. "The adverse publicity has increased business to the island, and to us by roughly 5%," he says. "I'm not sure about it - it's expensive and I feel it may be detrimental in years to come. The romantic image has been removed."

Other hoteliers wonder if this season's success is less attributable to the bridge and more thanks to a happy coincidence.

The owner of the 21-bedroom Uig Hotel, David Taylor, says he has had a good season. "Whether you can put that down to the Skye bridge is another thing," he says. "There has been a healthy increase in visitors throughout the major tourist spots in Scotland. The general comment from a lot of people is that the bridge is too expensive. They think when they pay to come over, the price includes the return too."

Alastair MacClean, proprietor of the 10-bedroom Dunorin House Hotel, agrees: "Maybe the bridge increased business in July and August, but not at the beginning of the season. The later increase could come from more people taking holidays in Britain anyway. There are certainly more Europeans about."

Hotels positioned away from the bridge are less enthusiastic about its effects. Bill Fowler, the chef and proprietor of the Ardvarsar Hotel, says that his 10-bedroom hotel is 22 miles from the bridge and that tourists are overcharged for the crossing. He is doubtful that the bridge has helped his business.

Janet MacDonald, owner of the five-bedroom Tables Hotel, agrees with Fowler. Her premises are one hour's drive from the bridge. "People only express dismay at the price of the toll," she notes.

And one man unlikely to budge from his view is Lord MacDonald, proprietor of the 10-bedroom Kinloch Lodge. "The bridge has definitely not increased our business," he states. "Tourists say the bridge is welcome, but not the toll."

Whatever contribution the bridge has made in increasing the number of visitors to the island this summer, the debate looks set to continue among Skye's hoteliers.