By
Rebecca Gibson |
Portsmouth International Port’s record 2013 cruise season closed with an inaugural visit from Thomson Cruises’ Thomson Celebration on 11 November.
One of Thomson’s platinum-class ships, Celebration arrived at the port with more than 1,100 passengers, marking the largest volume of passengers to have disembarked from a single cruise ship in Portsmouth’s history. To celebrate the occasion, harbour master Captain Rupert Taylor presented Celebration’s captain with a commemorative plaque.
Portsmouth handled a record number of calls this year, including two visits from Phoenix Reisen’s 231 m Artania, which was also the longest commercial vessel to have ever docked at Portsmouth. Artania is also set to call in 2014.
Numbers are expected to increase over the next couple of years due to a £3 million joint marketing initiative between Brittany Ferries and UK tourism organisation Visit Britain. The three-year campaign aims to increase the number of French tourists visiting the UK by ferry.
“One of our key objectives is to encourage tourists to explore Britain, visiting our countryside, towns and villages,” said Sandie Dawn, chief executive of VisitBritain. “Many visitors entering the UK by way of Portsmouth International Port will explore the south and visit the city’s world-class attractions such as the Mary Rose Museum and HMS Victory.”
Last year, Brittany Ferries transported 20,000 French tourists to Portsmouth, which offers more routes to and from France than any other port. The operator hopes to increases this number over the next three years.
“While the majority of our customers originate in the UK, the French market is steadily growing and we feel the time is now right to develop this further,” said Christophe Mathieu, deputy managing director of Brittany Ferries. “At the same time, Portsmouth has become increasingly important to Brittany Ferries because of its accessibility by road and its proximity to London. We now need to promote it as the natural gateway to the UK.”