With only a few connections to Corsica and the Balearics left, the final stretch for Corsica Ferries in Sète

Les ferrys de Corsica Ferries seront visibles au port de Sète jusqu’à la fin du mois d’octobre. Midi Libre – NICOLAS ZARROUK

Corsica Ferries a prévu six liaisons vers les Baléares et la Corse depuis Sète au mois de septembre. Elle annonce, par ailleurs, deux nouveaux allers-retours à destination de Majorque pour octobre.

Home stretch for Corsica Ferries in Sète. After numerous connections with the Balearic Islands between April and June, and three others to Île Rousse in July, the shipping company is back in September with six new exchanges and two additional ones to Majorca in October, which it has just announced.

Six dates in September

In concrete terms, three journeys, from Île Singulière to Corsica, are planned for Wednesdays 11, 18 and 25 September. Three more to the Balearic Islands are scheduled for Thursdays 12, 19 and 26 September.

Behind these outings lies a well-oiled organisation that Fabien Agostini, head of ports at Corsica Ferries, explains: “It all starts on Tuesday with a departure from the Balearic Islands at 5 p.m. The ferry then arrives on Wednesday in Sète at 7:45 a.m. At 9 a.m., the ferry leaves for Île Rousse where it docks at 7 p.m. Before making the return trip, immediately afterwards, at 8:15 p.m. It arrives at the port of Sète on Thursday morning at 8 a.m. “ Then, the ferry makes its rounds again the following week.

A slightly different audience

For the moment, “the trend is good for early September. There are a lot of last-minute bookings, two weeks before departure, because people are looking at the weather. “If the weather is good, there are reservations”, analyses Fabien Agostini. His company, Corsica Ferries, is counting heavily on this month in its development strategy in Sète, because “Generally speaking, September is like a nice month of May, knowing that some Mays are like July”.

If the geographical origin of the target clientele, coming from the west of France, plus German tourists passing through Sète, remains the same, its social profile will be different. "In September, there are many families with children who have not yet started school, or even without children, and retirees", explains the port manager at Corsica Ferries.

Read also: "The market is responding well" : Corsica Ferries judges its new lines from Sète to the Balearics and Corsica

Two connections during the October holidays

These six September dates will not be the last, however. Two new connections to Mallorca will take place on Wednesdays 23 and 30 October during the school holidays.

“We have been making Toulon-Balearic Islands connections since 2018 and we have noted that there is demand in October for the Balearic Islands. So we are also doing a test in Sète this year,” reveals Fabien Agostini.  If such a decision was taken, it is also because the clientele  has “responded present” since the arrival of Corsica Ferries in Sète. And the shipping company is counting on her once again for these two connections, which should close its first year on the unique island.

Then all that will remain for Corsica Ferries is to take stock and see whether or not it is appropriate to continue its activity on Sète. Answer in the coming weeks.

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