Rise in passengers boosts outlook for ferry companies

TRAVEL TRENDS:THE NUMBER OF ferry passengers travelling through the Republic's ports rose in the busiest three months of the year, reversing the recession's downward trend.

Ferry traffic was up by 2 per cent to Britain and by 8 per cent to France during the third quarter, which includes the summer months of July and August. The summer accounts for nearly 40 per cent of ferry traffic.

The Irish Maritime Development Office attributed the rises to better marketing by ferry companies and forecast that cuts in flights to Britain's regional airports bodes well for ferry companies next year.

Both of the main operators on the Irish Sea, Irish Ferries and Stena Line, have adopted aggressive marketing strategies that are continuing into the new year. Irish Ferries is offering midweek fares next year from €89 one way; Stena Line will charge €79 one way.

The turnaround in the third quarter will be welcomed in particular by Irish Ferries, which recorded an 8.8 per cent drop in passengers in the first half of the year.

"We partially attribute the resilient performance of the passenger ferry sector to a combination of increased marketing and pricing strategies by the larger operators, coupled with increases in vessel capacity and frequency on the main routes," said Glenn Murphy, the IMDO's director.

Overall ferry travel on the Irish Sea fell 1 per cent in the first nine months of the year, but the sector has been resilient given that the number of tourists from the UK is down by 12 per cent in the same quarter. The British routes account for 90 per cent of passenger-ferry traffic out of the Republic.

Passenger routes to France operate from Rosslare, with a 77 per cent market share, and Cork, with a 13 per cent market share, to Cherbourg, Roscoff and Le Havre. Four shipping lines operate mixed freight and passenger services between the Republic and France. Passenger numbers on the continental routes rose from 104,000 to 113,000.

Murphy said that market conditions remain demanding for the passenger-ferry sector, with increased fuel costs and ongoing volatility in the sterling-euro exchange rate.