Direct Ferries
TypeLimited Company
IndustryTravel
Founded1999[1][2]
FounderHoward Davies[2]
Headquarters
London
,
England, United Kingdom
Key people
Richard Segal
(Director)
ServicesFerry Travel Aggregator Service
Websitedirectferries.co.uk

Direct Ferries is a UK based ferry travel aggregator service that provides bookings for ferry crossings across the globe. Its main crossings include mainland Europe, such as the France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Germany; North Africa, such as Morocco and Algeria; Asia, such as China, Russia, Cambodia and Hong Kong; and the Americas, such as the United States, Canada, Peru and the Dominican Republic.[3][4]

History

Founded in 1999, Direct Ferries was launched by founder Howard Davies, and quickly expanded to serve multiple markets across the globe.[1][2]

In 2016, the business received investment from private equity firm Livingbridge, and has since reported major growth worldwide.[5]

Direct Ferries was the first European company to work with NFC (National Ferries Company) in the Sultanate of Oman, and was also the first European company to work with major ferry operators in the US.[6]

In 2017, Direct Ferries launched a dedicated website for both the US and the Middle East, further expanding their marketing capabilities.[6]

Operations

Direct Ferries is a U.K. based company, and has its headquarters based in London, England, where the majority of its employees are based. The company is very internationally focussed though, with their services being offered being spread across the globe, with multiple websites based across the many different languages and countries that they serve.

Direct Ferries’ website works as a third party ticketing service that allows users to compare many different ferry routes, ports and operators. They allow access to practically any port in both Europe and North Africa, as well as many different ports in North America, Asia, and the South Pacific. They also allow you to compare prices between 220 different ferry operators, on routes that allow cars on board, as well as foot passenger only routes. The possibility to change a booked ticked is not implemented for the most ferry companies.

They offer around 3011 ferry routes across the world, covering 725 ferry ports in over 194 countries and separate islands.[7]

The Direct Ferries App was launched in 2013 for both iOS, and for Android, offering access to ferry bookings on the go.[8]

Criticism

Over the years, examples of problematic practices related to customer concerns have repeatedly come to light. During 2018 there was an increasing number of cases of credit card debits for ferries for which no ticket or booking confirmation was available, the European Consumer Centres Network issued a guidance for affected customers.[9]

During the COVID-19 pandemic problems have increased, on websites like Trustpilot or Google Play there are reports of hundreds of customers who had problems with Direct Ferries.[10][11] The main issues concerning the lack of information from the side of Direct Ferries, the response time to customer concerns seem to be very long and in many cases there is no reaction from the company at all, another common criticism is the length of time take to reimburse any payments.

References

  1. 1 2 "How not to be left at sea by new business technology". London: BBC News. 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
  2. 1 2 3 Chynoweth, Carly (16 December 2012). "How I Made It: Howard Davies, founder of Direct Ferries". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Een roadtrip kan ook over water". De Morgen (in Dutch). 15 March 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Lonely Planet : Morocco. Lonely Planet. 2014. p. 1075. ISBN 978-1-743-60025-2.
  5. ↑ "Direct Ferries".
  6. 1 2 "Direct Ferries offers access to Oman". 12 July 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "First Winners of the Inaugural Direct Ferries Awards Announced". Shippax. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  8. ↑ "Direct Ferries App". App Advice. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  9. ↑ "Klacht over Direct Ferries? Dit kunt u doen!". European Consumer Centres Network. Archived from the original on 2019-05-23. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Trustpilot- Direct Ferries". Trustpilot. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Google Play - Direct Ferries - Ferry tickets". play.google. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
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