Ferry Business - Autumn/Winter 2020

2 8 safety measures we’ve put in place and what the new ferry journey will look like, so we share daily updates and messages from our CEO on our website. We’ve also started a ‘Broaden your horizons’ campaign to showcase the benefits of ferry travel, including affordable ticket prices, short journey times and the ability to drive onto the ferry in your own car, go straight to your cabin and then disembark with minimal interactions. MK : It’s important to communicate the new rules to passengers in a clear and timely manner. Consequently, we’ve placed special emphasis on the availability and transparency of information, in addition to the already high security standards. This is the key to reaching every Jadrolinija passenger. WR : While the borders are closed, our campaigns will focus on our domestic market and encouraging New Zealanders to see their own backyard. We’re also looking at new flexible payment options, such as ‘buy now, pay later’. We’ll link in with the regional tourism offices and Tourism New Zealand as part of the ‘Do something new, New Zealand’ campaign. What strategies will be key to retaining new customers? DB : There’s a great deal of uncertainty at the moment, so we’ll need to observe customers’ behaviour and analyse their interactions with us to ensure we respond to the needs they articulate. This, combined with third-party research, will enable us to identify emerging risks and opportunities. We’ll need to make sure our processes are right and be creative in how we retain the emotional connection people have with travelling on ferries. FC : We’ve had to reduce the number of face-to-face interactions with customers during the ferry journey, so it’s critical that we increase the quality of our communication, both before and after customers travel with us. Focusing on the overall customer experience is also crucial for us, especially with the ongoing challenges of implementing social distancing. Our team is working twice as hard to keep providing ‘service with a smile’ from behind a mask. JC : One key strategy is to promote our efforts to become a green ferry operator. For example, we’re building three new ships – two of which will be powered by LNG – and we’re removing single- use plastics and improving recycling initiatives. Another strategy is to expand our services to provide more than just a ferry crossing – we want to use our expertise to help our customers find accommodation and tourist attractions in the destinations we serve. WR : Our promotions will encourage New Zealanders to get out and see unique corners of our country. Our strategy is based around hosting passengers as one of our whanau (family) – we want to deliver the perceived value for money and help them create enduring memories. We’re also focused on offering an exemplary customer experience and excellent onboard facilities that will keep passengers coming back. CFR Red Funnel Ferries’ vessels provide a vital link between the Isle of Wight and mainland UK ROUNDTABLE Photo: Jake Sugden Photography COMMENTARY A bridge too far Michael Grey outlines why ferry services offer a more flexible and cost-effective option for transporting people between Northern Ireland and Scotland than UK Government’s proposed bridge across the Irish Sea MICHAEL GREY Michael Grey is a master mariner turned maritime journalist and has edited both Fairplay and Lloyd’s List in a career spanning more than 60 years. W hy are politicians so enthused by massive capital projects such as a bridge across the Irish Sea, the possibility of which is currently being investigated at the behest of the UK’s prime minister Boris Johnson? What’s not to like about such a scheme, which would usefully employ thousands of construction workers, and require UK companies to manufacture vast quantities of cement and concrete, steel and advanced technology? And in the desperate world of post-Covid-19 economics, such schemes will likely be favourable with a broad range of stakeholder, including voters and contributors to political parties. I can remember interviewing the sorrowing CEO of the Dover Harbour Board in the 1980s when it appeared that the dreaded fixed link across the English Channel was going to go ahead, spelling doom for ferry operators. He suggested that there was a ‘triangle’ that needed to be completed for such projects to go ahead; the availability of technical solutions, the means of paying for it, and political will. Of these three, he said, the last was the most essential for any grand project to take shape and, with the approval of then prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s government, there shone the green light. Although you might say that Eurotunnel is up and running and the ferries are still prospering, it’s worth reminding yourself that all the investors in the original privately funded project lost their shirts and Photo: Google maps Experts have suggested two potential routes for a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland 2 9