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Eurostar enjoys 2% increase in customers for first six months of 2014 Eurostar enjoys 2% passenger increase but World Cup restrains growth
(about 5 hours later)
Eurostar have announced a 2% rise in in people using the trans-channel service for the first half of 2014, with five million passengers so far this year. Factors including South Americans staying at home for the World Cup and decreased demand for holidays in northern Europe stunted Eurostar’s growth between January and June this year.
Their latest total for the period January-June 2014 narrowly beats the benchmark set last year when they welcomed 4.9 million people onto their services. The cross-Channel train operator saw passenger numbers rise by only 2 per cent to 5 million and revenues by just 0.5 per cent to £456 million in the first half.
Eurostar's upturn in passengers also marked a 0.5% hike in sales revenue to £456m in comparison to last year's total of £453m. Chief executive Nicolas Petrovic said: “We were hit by a number of factors in the first half but we are now beginning to see a more-benign trading environment with encouraging signs of economic stability in France as well as t he UK.”
It appears business passengers are also beginning to choose land over air when travelling to Europe, with a 6% rise in bookings in comparison to June 2013. Business-passenger bookings were up by 6 per cent reflecting the improvement in sentiment on both sides of the Channel but leisure traffic was flat.
However, travel demand took a hit over the Easter period and May. It is thought that factors such as people staying at home to watch the World Cup and choosing alternative holiday destinations were the reason for this. Petrovic said: “British travellers who might usually have taken one City break at Easter and one at the May bank holiday just took the one.
“Whilst a number of factors in the second quarter of the year lead to a dampening in demand, we are now beginning to see a more benign trading environment with encouraging signs of economic stability in France as well as the UK,” said chief executive Nicolas Petrovic. “And Brazilians, who are big fans of Eurostar, simply put off their European holidays for the football. But we are pretty hopeful they are coming back.”
“These more favourable conditions have helped deliver strong growth in business travel across our markets.” He added that the service had launched two post-World Cup deals for UK passengers including £99 return to Paris, Brussels or Lille on certain trains.
Since opening in 1994, Eurostar has carried over 145 million passengers, with popular destinations such as Brussels, Paris and Lille. He said: “Targeting consumers who may have chosen to defer their traditional summer getaway makes sense and should be felt in the third quarter as we see travel patterns return to normal.”