Recession took a bite out of summer travel on Gulf of Finland

Ferry operators still report double-digit growth percentages

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It all depends whom you believe, I suppose.
      Recent reports from ferry operators seem to indicate that the recession has increased travelling to the nearby destinations at the expense of long-haul trips.
      In economically uncertain times people are not thought to dare to splash out on travel to far-flung destinations.
      Instead they are expected to spend their holidays in the nearby regions, which should benefit the Baltic Sea ferry operators, among others.
     
For example Tallink Silja reports growth of nearly eight per cent in passenger volumes on the company’s routes to Sweden this past summer.
      On Tallink’s routes between Finland and Estonia the increase has been even larger.
      Eckerö Line, in turn, put on record its highest-ever monthly passenger figures for its operations in the Gulf of Finland.
      The most stellar growth figures, however, were registered by Linda Line, the fast ships of which carried 80 per cent more passengers than a year earlier.
      With Viking Line the goings-on have been of a more moderate kind: trips between mainland Finland and Sweden become less frequent. Instead, the number of passengers on routes to Estonia grew slightly (11.5%) from the year before.
     
The shipping companies are satisfied, for in this day and age such growth figures seem incredible.
      The Finnish Maritime Administration’s statistics concerning the passenger traffic between Finland and other countries tell a slightly different story, however.
      According to statistics, the number of ferry journeys did not change radically in January-August from the year before.
      Around 12 million sea voyages took place to and from Finland, which is more or less the same as in the first eight months of 2008.
      And though all the shipping companies operating between Finland and Estonia – namely Tallink, Viking Line, Eckerö Line and Linda Line – reported double-digit growth percentages in their passenger volumes for the summer, the fact remains that according to the Finnish Maritime Administration fewer crossings were made in June-August this year than during the same time in 2008.
     
This is not a question of a statistical error.
      This past summer there were two fewer ferry operators plying the route between Finland and Estonia, and the portion of passengers they left behind was simply divided between the remaining shipping companies.
      According to the ferry operators’ figures, passenger volumes between mainland Finland and Sweden grew by just over two per cent.
      When travels between Finland’s semi-autonomous Åland Islands and Sweden are included, the Finnish Maritime Administration growth percentage figures for the western routes reach the three-percent mark for the early part of the year.
      For example Birka Cruises - which operates between the cities of Mariehamn and Stockholm but does not have traffic with mainland Finland - put on record its highest-ever passenger figures in the month of July.
     
In ferry traffic, comparing companies’ results from one summer to the next is problematic, for a single lengthy docking can cause the figures to take a sizeable knock.
      A new ship can temporarily add interest and increase the demand, which is what happened with Tallink Silja’s Turku routes when the Galaxy replaced the Silja Festival.
      Linda Line’s tremendous growth figures, on the other hand, are explained by the fact that the company now has two fast ships in service instead of just one as was the case in the summer of 2008.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Silja Line´s annual passenger figures fall by nearly 400,000 (8.10.2008)
  Number of cruises to Estonia shows substantial growth (10.4.2008)
  Tallink to become leading shipping company in Baltic Sea area (13.6.2006)

Links:
  Viking Line
  Eckerö Line
  Linda Line
  Tallink Silja

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