Page 73 - Sjæklen2004

Secondly, the majority of travellers coming to Denmark via
this route were not traditional tourists, but people who were
either going to see family or friends, or travelling on busi-
ness. These travellers usually had a low budget and did not
spend much on shopping and cultural activities such as
museums etc. Although the businesspeople usually stayed
in hotels, the research team met few of them who were actu-
ally going to Esbjerg. These results were in contrast to the
Ryanair travellers going the other way, who were mostly
tourists going to London for a holiday. There was, however,
also a difference compared to the ferry passengers - most
significantly, the ones travelling on the Dana Anglia . The
Dana Anglia, because of its large group of mini-cruise pas-
sengers (passengers who buy a package trip including only
a short stay in Denmark), seemed to have provided a solid
tourist base for the Fisheries and Maritime Museum in
Esbjerg as well as many visitors for the town of Ribe.
With the changes in the ferry traffic between Esbjerg and
Harwich, the mini-cruise passengers have almost disappea-
red. They have instead been replaced by holiday travellers
wishing to bring their own cars, and rarely staying in the
region around Esbjerg. Although the research indicated that
Ryanair had taken over some of the former ferry passen-
gers, the number seemed surprisingly small. This raised the
question of whether the Ryanair passengers would travel by
air at all times rather than going by ferry.
The second issue of interest concerned the effect of the
increased level of activity in the airport attributable to the
new London route. For the airport itself, Ryanair seemed to
have had a positive effect. Clearly the traffic to London had
raised the passenger flow through the airport, but as it tur-
ned out, the knock-on effect concerning goods and services
was rather limited. Ryanair only makes limited demands on
the airport as the plane spends no more than twenty-five
minutes in Esbjerg before again taking off for London, from
where it also gets most of its supplies. For the airport, the-
se limited demands serve as an argument for the low pas-
senger fees for Ryanair, and judging by the statements
made by passengers, low fares are central to securing the
route’s future success.
The project showed that whether the changes in passen-
ger traffic can be perceived as a positive or as a negative
development is indeed a question of viewpoint. While the
new air route to London can be seen as positive for the air-
port, there are clear indications that the rise in offshore traf-
fic has been just as important. The changes in the types of
passengers arriving in Esbjerg do not seem to have had a
one-sided positive effect on the local tourist business.
Although the hotel industry has gained business, the report
raises the question of just how much of the gain should
actually be attributed to the offshore industry. The cultural
attractions such as museums and local business will also not
necessarily have gained as much as has sometimes been
claimed.
73
Passagererne med Ryanair er interesserede i en hurtig og billig
transportmåde. Selve rejsen er for dem ikke længere en del af feri-
en, som den var for minicruise-passagererne på ’Dana Anglia’.