Summer sees thousands boarding a Fullers ferry

February 19, 2008

Summer events see thousands boarding a Fullers ferry

Fullers ferries has had one of its busiest weekends on record, with thousands of people flocking to two of the region's biggest summer events.

The eagerly awaited annual Devonport Wine, Food & Music Festival proved a huge draw on both Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday Fullers used six ferries to carry almost 4500 people to Devonport during the day.

The festival proved a big draw on Sunday as well, with more than 3000 passengers either travelling to or from Devonport on a Fullers ferry.

"The Devonport festival tends to be one of the biggest logistic challenges of the year as far as we're concerned. This year was no exception and has surpassed all others.

"What many people probably don't realise is the amount of planning that happens at our end in the lead up to such events. We work closely with the organisers to ensure we are putting on a service which will meet the demands of their events, and are fortunate that we have a large fleet of fast ferries which can cope with the numbers.

"But at the end of the day our staff are great and really throw themselves into these events. It's always rewarding when we can help people to have a great day out," says Fullers CEO Douglas Hudson.

In addition to the Devonport Wine, Food & Music Festival, the Waiheke route was busy on Sunday (February 17) with music fans heading over for the More FM Winery Tour.

Kiwi favourites Brooke Fraser, Golden Horse and Anika Moa performed at Isola Estate, and during the day Fullers carried more than 3000 passengers over to the island.

Once on the island, passengers were transported by a shuttle service of 15 concert buses, organised by Fullers.

Sean Deery, director of Island Events Ltd, which provides event management at Isola Estate, says: "Everyone has said what a seamless transition it was from Auckland to Isola Estate.

"The feedback has focused on how well organised both the event and the transport were. From our point of view much of that is down to Fullers for bringing such a huge amount of people from Auckland over to the concert venue."

"Summer in Auckland always brings with it a host of wonderful events around the region, and Fullers is fully committed to working with organisers to offer the best support we can," says Mr Hudson.

ENDS

© Scoop Media