IT MIGHT not seem to be the most exotic of places for a cruise liner to tie up – but the only surprise for seasoned cruisers will be that it has not happened sooner.

For although tackling the dangerous tides and strong currents of the Bristol Channel might not seem as exotic as sailing the sunny Caribbean, arriving at the vast and modern seaport of the West Country's principal city will not be much different than docking in Jamaica, St Petersburg or most other far-flung destinations.

For the fact of the matter is, a dock is a dock wherever you travel, and it is usually full of machinery, oil pipes, traffic, containers and hundreds of busy people.

I can recall floating along the river leading into Curacao in the Dutch West Indies, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, with the band playing, wonderful little painted houses on either side of me, believing I was really in paradise – until the ship turned the corner and hitched its ropes to a pontoon which was surrounded by huge, smelly oil tanks.

But the town held some wonderful and memorable surprises. And in St Petersburg, Russia, our ship nestled between ugly iron buildings, cranes and rusty containers, giving no indication of the wonderful city beyond.

While in Oman, Jordan, we could not go out on deck because our vessel was within yards of a shipfull of cement, which was unloading and causing more of a storm than the nearby desert.

No, it will not be the arrival of the Regent Seven Seas ship Voyager at Bristol on September 7, as part of an 11-day cruise, that will be important to the city, but the speed at which the passengers are persuaded to board their coaches and venture into our fine city. For while the economy is being crunched, and most people are being forced to save their pennies, cruising is an up and coming industry, with more people taking to the water than ever before in history.

Cruising is divided into "sea days" and "port calls" and, after several days of the former, the latter is something which every passenger anticipates.

I have been disappointed with shore excursions in some of the most talked-about places in the world. After a while at sea, my mindset tends to be: forget the ship, dock, get off and explore the landscape. So it is vital that cruisers get a "feelgood factor" about Bristol and the West Country, for the word spreads, and everyone is looking for new, exciting and interesting destinations.

And when you think about it, there cannot be anywhere else in the world with a maritime history as rich as Bristol's. While these days Avonmouth bustles with the arrival of ships carrying everything from cars to food, the most important cargo could yet be people. Not the poor slaves who were forced from their homes during the times in history that most would rather forget, but people from around the world, with money in their pockets, just looking for somewhere to spend it.

And by the time the rather muddy waters of the Severn Estuary loom into view, the Bristol-bound passengers will have already had their appetites whetted for what's in store for them.

Onboard lecturers will have told them what to expect, the "must-see" places to visit and how to reach them.

And you don't need to lay on a great variety of entertainment. The cruisers usually get only eight hours to enjoy a trip ashore, and they look for good shops, value-for-money restaurants, and places to visit – and we have those in abundance. The small ships carry about 700 passengers – the big ones in excess of 3,000.

In fact, sailing around the world at the moment there are 14 million tonnes of passenger shipping – and that's just on Lloyds register alone.

Around the world a million passengers are landing every day. It does not take a lot of imagination to see what that could do for some of our local businesses. It would be like a tidal wave of cash coming in from the sea.

There are other places in Britain which have either been on the bandwagon or jumped on it already – take Southampton, for instance. A port which was great, slumped and became great again. Now once again, it is a major embarkation point for cruisers.

Harwich is another example of a town with a port which regularly hosts cruise ships. Even Falmouth's port in Cornwall is now attracting visitors from around the world.

Great events like the Harbourside Festival and the Balloon Fiesta, wonderful locations like Bath, Wells, Glastonbury and the Somerset Levels and Cheddar, and historical sites and shopping centres must all get in on the act and sell themselves to the world.

While Bristol International Airport looks to expand, here is a new opportunity to bring tourists to the region. They will find out all the good things that the West Country has to offer and the will tell their friends.

On my own voyages, I have been met at the quayside by military bands, Amazon dancers, calypso singers from Jamaica, and the Incas from Peru.

Why not get our own Wurzels on the dock for the arrivals, to sing an old Adge Cutler classic: "We be Bristol kiddays, we comes from Bristol Cittay – where all the boys are 'andsome, and all the girls are prettay!"

A real West Country welcome for our guests – and, perhaps, a boost for tourism.