Port says bonjour to a new sailing
Brittany Ferries new midweek sailing connecting Cork with France will become a permanent feature, it was confirmed yesterday.
The Wednesday sailing is part of a new three-year deal signed by the Port of Cork Company (PoCC) and Brittany Ferries which was revealed at a reception held on board the MV Armorique vessel which docked in Ringaskiddy yesterday, 6 April.
The new overnight weekly Roscoff MV Armorique sailing, which is additional to the popular Pont Aven, will cater for the high demand and bookings already being seen for the route for 2022 and beyond.
Wednesday’s event was hosted by Brittany Ferries President Jean-Marc Roué, Honorary Consul of Ireland in Brittany and celebrated the strong commercial partnership shared with PoCC for 45 years.
Also in attendance was Brittany Ferries Chief Executive, Christophe Mathieu as well as senior representatives from the Port of Cork Company, Tourism Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and local business and tourism stakeholders.
Brittany Ferries President Jean-Marc Roué, Honorary Consul of Ireland in Brittany said: “Our relationship with Cork and indeed with Ireland has always been a happy and successful relationship. While the last two years have been difficult for us all, I am delighted to be in a position to confirm that this year our early bookings are up by over 35 per cent on 2019 which was our last ‘normal’ year due to Covid-19.”
PoCC Chief Executive, Eoin McGettigan said: “We are honoured also to be able to show Monsieur Roué and his colleagues the significant investment we have made to the Ringaskiddy facility. These investments from the Port of Cork and from Brittany Ferries are symbols of optimism, ambition and celebrate the long-awaited ability for people both in Ireland and France to enjoy renewed freedom after such a challenging two-year period. We are greatly looking forward to seeing a strong and welcome return to tourism and travel between our beautiful countries.”
According to Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons, the new sailing has the potential to generate €4.3 million from a tourism perspective to the local economy.