ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the United Kingdom car passenger ferry industry with the objective of establishing the 'ideal' ferry service offer or product. The study concentrates on ferry services operating from and within the UK in 1994. All ferry operators, ferries and routes are included.
The initial part analyses the providers of the ferry service, followed by an analysis of the route factors for the international and major domestic routes. These factors are the route distance, the voyage time, the frequency of sailings, fares and traffic figures for 1994. The ferries in operation in 1994 are analysed on the basis of physical dimension, construction, carrying capacities and technical data. The paper concludes with a summary of these results and identifies possible reasons for similarities and differences observed.
The paper also concludes, that while the results of the study are useful in practical terms, it does not clearly establishes the 'ideal' UK passenger car ferry. It is suggested that a further study is required which should also satisfy the theoretical aspect of the 'ferry service offer', in particular in terms of services marketing. Such a study would not narrowly concentrate on the 'ferry' and the 'route', but would include other elements of the ferry experience, such as infrastructure, port and terminal.
