16.10.09
Signs of sales recovery as Eurostar heads towards 15th anniversary
Eurostar, the provider of high-speed, carbon neutral rail journeys between the UK and the Continent, today announced its Quarter 3 2009 results which report some recovery in sales.
Whilst sales and revenues for the year to date are down slightly and the business travel environment remains challenging, overall sales revenue in Q3 2009 is up 6.8% on the same period last year. This uplift is due to the impact of the fire on a shuttle in the Channel Tunnel in September last year which depressed the Q3 2008 results, helped by growth in the leisure market and a bottoming-out in the decline of business sales.
Overall ticket sales between January and September 2009 totalled £504.9 million and since the beginning of the year Eurostar has welcomed 6.9 million travellers. Whilst this is down 0.9% on 2008, the volume of passengers travelling in Q3 2009 went up to 2.6 million from 2.4 million 2008. This sees an 11% increase in passengers travelling outbound from the UK and a 7% increase of passengers travelling inbound from the Continent year on year.
The increase reflects the success of the ‘Little Break, Big Difference’ advertising campaign which has encouraged UK travellers to treat themselves for as little as the £59 return fare – Eurostar’s lead in fare which has stayed the same for the last six years.
Richard Brown, Chief Executive, Eurostar, said:
“Today’s figures show that despite tough times, people are increasingly realising the great benefit of travelling with Eurostar.
“These individuals are part of what we call the ‘Eurostar Generation’; travellers who over the past decade and a half have experienced significant changes to the way they live, work and play as the network of high-speed rail services steadily grows.”
Brown also said that whilst the economic climate remains difficult there are signs that the worst might be over for the business market:
“In recent weeks a number of our major corporate clients have eased their business travel restrictions. Although it is early days, this may be a sign of an upturn.”
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