Displaying items by tag: Maiden Crossing Completed

Q: Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

10th May 2018

Ireland-Spain First Ferry Connemara Completes Maiden Cork Crossing to Cantabria

Ireland-Spain: a historic first as ropax Connemara operated by Brittany Ferries makes a maiden arrival to Santander Bay this afternoon off the northern Spanish coastal region of Cantabria. The 'direct' continental route opens up new tourism potential and improved trade access opportunities. Up to 2014, there had been an Ireland-Spain service (albeit via France) operated by LD Lines.

#FerryNews - Connemara, Brittany Ferries chartered ropax completed a maiden Cork-Santander crossing this afternoon, marking the historic first arrival of an Ireland-Spain ferry service, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Under glorious blue skies, Connemara arrived into Santander Bay and docked at the Muelle del Almte with the backdrop of the Cantabrian mountains of northern Spain. The 500 passenger / 120-cabin capacity ropax can take between 80-100 cars and 100 freight trailers. The direct route is a game-changer for tourists and hauliers and notably in a looming post-Brexit environment in addition to enhancing cultural ties between Ireland and Spain.

Brittany Ferries operates Connemara on the 26-hour crossing and based on a twice weekly overnight sailings, departing Cork on Wednesdays (see yesterday's coverage) and Fridays. The return sailings from Santander are on Sundays and Thursdays. The new service has been a strategic goal for the Port of Cork Company when plans were made to establish the link since 2004 that involved discussions with other ferry operators and another port in northern Spain.

Above: Connemara arrives in Santander this afternoon with officials from Gobierno de Cantabria, the regional authority of the autonomous community. The officials stand on the ferry's ro-ro berth linkspan located on the quay of the ferry terminal (Photo: Government of Cantabria - twitter)

Among the sold-out inaugural économie 'no-frills' which only caters for motorists passengers were fans of Leinster Rugby. They are heading for the European Rugby Champions Cup final in Bilbao to be held on Saturday where they play French team Racing 92 from Paris.

Also driving off the 195 vehicle ferry onto Spanish soil were an impressive array of supercars worth millions of euro. They involved Bentleys, BMW's, McCLarens and Lamborghinis. The cavalcade of high-performance cars are to embark on a 3,000km, 10-day fundraising tour throughout Spain in aid of childrens’ charity the Bubblegum Club.

Brittany Ferries are no strangers to the Cantabrian port having established four decades ago a direct service from the port to the UK. This began with a Plymouth-Santander service in 1978.

In the same year the French ferry company launched the Cork-Roscoff route in which Connemara also carries out a single weekday round-trip service again based on the no-frills concept. The Ireland-France route taking 14 hours is also operated by flagship Pont-Aven which has sailings based on cruiseferry standards.

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Marine Leisure & Aquatic Tourism

Domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million.

Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips.

While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities.

According to the National University of Galway (NUIG) research the average expenditure per coastal day trip in 2018 was calculated at €95. The equivalent for coastal overnight trips was €310. The estimated water-based activity expenditure per person per trip across the sample was €56 rising to €73 for the subsample that actually undertake waterbased activities on their coastal visits. The results also indicate that domestic tourists undertake the majority of their marine activities on the West and South coasts of Ireland and that there are notable differences in participation rates across age groupings, social classes and by family makeup.

A domestic tourist is defined in this report as a person who spends at least one night away from home on their trip. Total expenditure by domestic tourists in coastal areas was estimated to be €698 million in 2018, which represents 35% of the total expenditure by domestic tourists (using the broader Fáilte Ireland measure for domestic tourists that includes business trips equating to 10.92 million in total trips and €2,006 million in total revenue).

The marine-related activity expenditure, or what might truly be referred to as domestic marine tourism, is estimated to generate revenue of €381 million with €172 million being spent on water-based activities. Marine tourism makes up an estimated 19% of total domestic tourism expenditure.

Marine Leisure Tourism - FAQ

What is marine leisure tourism?

Coastal tourism refers to land-based and water-based tourism activities taking place on the coast for which the proximity to the sea is a condition including also their respective services. Coastal and Marine Tourism & Leisure are seen as one of the Blue Economy (BE) sectors that can help unlock the potential of multi-use of space at sea by engaging with Blue Growth (BG) sectors such as Aquaculture and Marine Renewable Energy among others.

Give examples of marine leisure tourism?

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

What marine leisure tourism studies have been conducted in Ireland?

NUI Galway carried out a survey of domestic residents in Ireland in 2019 as part of a survey entitled "Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Ireland's Ocean Economy". The purpose of the household survey was to profile the domestic market for single-day trips (leisure) and overnight trips (tourism) for coastal and marine-related activities in Ireland. The results of the survey are also used to estimate what proportion of an Irish resident's total domestic tourism expenditure is in coastal areas (coastal tourism) and what proportion is spent on undertaking marine-related activities (marine tourism).

What were the results of the NUI marine leisure tourism study?

The NUI results highlight the important contribution that Ireland's marine and coastal resources make to the leisure experiences of the general population and the importance of the domestic tourism market to local coastal economies. The analysis indicates that domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million. Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips. While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. Satisfaction with the available marine-related leisure facilities was also found to be very high across all activities.