Ferry Market Growth

June´s growth in ferry passengers underpins the positive increase in the UK passenger ferry market for the first half of 2010.     

The recently published monthly Ferrystat* report shows that the number of ferry passengers on the main UK ferry routes increased by more than 4% in June 2010 compared with June 2009. This resulted in a 0.5% increase in the UK passenger ferry market for the first six months of the year.

June´s growth was across all sectors of the market with UK-Continent passengers up 2.1% to just over 1.8 million passengers; UK-Ireland passengers up 4.5% to nearly 475,000 passengers and UK Domestic passengers up 7.8% to exceed 1.2 million passengers.

There were many reasons affecting the market including the effect of the economy on outbound travel, the effect of the ash on flight schedules and the World Cup. Nevertheless, the market grew overall for the first six months of the year. On the important UK-Continent sector the number of passengers remained unchanged for the first six months although the number of cars increased by 0.5%.      

The ferry sector is outperforming air in terms of growth of international travel, partly as a result of the ash cloud problem but nevertheless the strength of the ferry market is being upheld by improved services and investment in tonnage.

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*Ferrystat is a monthly statistical report on the UK Ferry market produced by IRN Research in association with the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA), the UK´s leading trade association for sea passenger travel. Annual subscriptions are priced at 650 GBP plus VAT.         
Further details are attached.


 
IRN Research
IRN Research is a full-service market research consultancy and a member of the Market Research Society (MRS). IRN offers a range of research services focusing on the travel and tourism industry. For further information contact Fred Hitchins on 0121 635 5210 or fhitchins@irn-research.com.

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