Ferry services 'have great future'

The ferry industry has a healthy and fruitful future to look forward to, a senior figure from P&O Ferries has predicted.

Simon Johnson, the ferry operator's tourist sales and marketing director, told TravelMole TV that he was optimistic about the future of the ferry market with regards to the current economic situation.

He said that people are becoming aware of ferries as a viable way of travelling when their finances are tight.

"I think there is great future for ferries," Mr Johnson told TravelMole at the Association of British Travel Agents convention in Gran Canaria.

"This year has been a year of consolidation for us – what with fuel prices and what with the recession and the credit crunch, people are beginning to find the alternative of travelling by ferry, so the word is beginning to get out there."

P&O Ferries, which sails from Dover to Calais and also from Portsmouth to Bilbao in Spain, recently celebrated the success of being voted the best ferry operator in the UK at the 2008 Group Leisure Awards.