Stena Line Becomes Europe’s First Ferry Operator to Receive CTW Certification

Market leader Stena Line has become the first ferry operator in Europe to be awarded with COTRI’s CTW Chinese Tourist Welcome Quality Host certification following a training session delivered to 29 members of staff by COTRI Country Partner for Ireland Centre for Competitiveness.  Furthermore, the company was certified with CTW Quality Organisation status on its Stena Line Superfast VII and Superfast VIII services.

Dr Tony Lenehan, Executive Director of the Centre for Competitiveness said: “The commitment to ensuring that a special and focused welcome from the crew onboard and ashore from the Stena Line team in Belfast and Cairnryan awaits the Chinese Tourist is a great example of the professionalism and dedication to excellence which is synonymous with Stena Line as a major tourism and travel operator.

Stena Line’s Travel Commercial Manager (Irish Sea North), Orla Noonan said: “We’re extremely proud that we have been able to achieve this unique service standard on our Cairnryan – Belfast route.  The number of Chinese visitors we have been welcoming onboard our Stena Superfast VII and VIII vessels has been growing significantly in recent years so it’s important that we do all we can to make our guests feel welcome and valued.”

Ms. Noonan also added: “We made a number of changes onboard including updating our current services, products and communications to ensure that we were ‘China Ready’ and focused on providing a special welcome to all of our Chinese passengers.  We already welcome around 40,000 Chinese tourists annually on our Cairnryan – Belfast route and our latest certification means we are now recognised as the first in Europe to ensure that Chinese guests are treated to the best possible standards.”

The CEO of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons, also spoke out by saying: “Congratulations to Stena Line on becoming the first passenger ferry company in Europe to achieve the Chinese Welcome Certification. Stena Line has taken part in several of Tourism Ireland’s sales missions to China in recent years – so it’s really great to see the result of those promotions and the significant growth in the number of Chinese visitors travelling on Stena Line vessels.

“The potential of the Chinese outbound travel market is significant, with Chinese travellers expected to take some 200 million trips overseas by 2020. Currently, 4 million Chinese travel to Europe annually and Tourism Ireland is working hard to win a greater share of that business for the island of Ireland.”

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute provides expert insights into the worldwide developments of China’s outbound tourism market. As Chinese outbound tourists are travelling to a large range of destinations, our publications cover a number of regions, providing detailed insights and analysing visitor behaviour.

With COTRI’s insights you can forge a successful business strategy built upon in-depth market expertise, comprehensive qualitative analysis and future projections. The Spring 2017 Edition of the COTRI Market report features in-depth exploration of the developing trends in the field, supported by a wealth of qualitative and quantitative statistical research.

See more: Center of Competitivness, Stena Line