The cruise ship industry will initially sustain 47 jobs

The first cruises start from Tyneside this year and holiday firm Thomson says it will start operating a service from next summer.

A study, commissioned by the Port of Tyne and regional development agency One NorthEast, found cruises would bring £3m to the region in 2005.

It suggested that would increase to at least £6.5m by 2015.

The expansion of the industry on the Tyne will initially sustain 47 jobs.

The Thomson Spirit will sail from Newcastle to destinations in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Estonia.

'Fantastic news'

The ship carries 1,254 passengers and facilities include a cinema, two swimming pools, night club, casino and library.

Port of Tyne marketing manager Kerrey Ward said they had been working to promote Tyneside to cruise operators for the last three to four years.

Mr Ward said: "It's fantastic news for the North East. It means people from the North East don't need to travel down to southern ports.

"Our catchment area stretches from Scotland down to the M62 and there is very strong evidence that a lot of these passengers will have pre and post-stays in the region."

This will be the first year cruise ships have sailed from the Tyne with operators running services to destinations including the Baltic, Faroe Islands and Greenland.

This year, there will be eight cruises and that will increase to 18 next year, with 16 of them cruises from the area and two bringing visitors to visit the North East.