Numbers travelling from the continent to Ireland rose last year, with Brittany Ferries reporting a 5pc increase in the number of inbound passengers travelling on board the Pont Aven in 2016.
Hugh Bruton of Brittany Ferries
The company begins its new season on Saturday, April 1, with weekly sailings from Cork every Saturday and return sailings departing from Roscoff every Friday November 3. The number of French passengers travelling with the cruise-ferry operator has been rising steadily over the last number of years. The Irish-French route celebrates its 40th anniversary next year. It carried more than 80,000 passengers last year and ended the season with 4,500 passengers and 1,100 cars on the last two sailings of the season.
The company said 2017 looks set to be an even more successful year with ferry bookings up 4pc on 2016. General Manager Hugh Bruton said: “There’s no better way to experience all that France has to offer than on a self-drive holiday and the figures reveal that passengers enjoy the many advantages of ferry travel. Not only does it allow holidaymakers to explore the region at their own pace, it also means you can pack as much as you want, which is particularly convenient for families with a large amount of luggage, adventurers travelling with bikes or keen golfers hoping to get into the swing of things on France’s greenways.
“We’ve noticed an increase in the number of French passengers travelling to Ireland, which has been a continuing trend in the last few years, and demonstrates both the popularity of Ireland as a travel destination and the valuable contribution that Brittany Ferries is making to the Irish economy.”
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