Trafic de passagers dans les ports maritimes français en 2014 et évolution depuis 2000
Les activités maritimes telles que la pêche et la construction navale peinent à se maintenir. Le transport maritime de marchandises se trouve, quant à lui, face à une mondialisation de plus en plus poussée des économies. Ces activités maritimes structurent pourtant fortement l’économie des communes du bord de mer et sont une marque identitaire forte du littoral. Elles permettent, par ailleurs, de diversifier l’économie nettement marquée par l’empreinte de la sphère d’économie présentielle en maintenant un tissu industriel important dans et autour des zones portuaires. Le transport maritime est le mode de transport le plus important pour les marchandises. Pour le transport de passagers, la situation est plus nuancée. Il est fortement concurrencé par le transport aérien, dont les vols low coast, ou la construction de ponts et de tunnels, comme le tunnel sous la Manche. Il subsiste tout de même dans deux créneaux importants : les traversées courtes régulières (ferries) et les croisières.
Maritime activities such as fishing and shipbuilding struggle to survive. Maritime freight transport faces increasingly intense economic globalization. Yet these maritime activities strongly structure coastal communities' economies and represent a strong identity marker of the littoral. They also diversify an economy heavily marked by the service sector while maintaining significant industrial capacity in and around port areas. Maritime transport is the most important freight mode. For passenger transport, the situation is more nuanced. It faces stiff competition from air transport, including low-cost flights, and from infrastructure like the Channel Tunnel. It persists nonetheless in two key niches: short regular crossings (ferries) and cruises.
6 chapters
- General AnalysisTraffic volume distribution• In 2014, French maritime ports welcomed nearly 32 million passengers. The ports of Calais and Dunkerque concentrated more than half the traffic, mainly with cross-Channel ferry services. The Mediterranean coastline accounted for nearly 40% with ferries (Corsica/mainland and France/North Africa), and, in recent years, with cruise passengers. Their numbers are increasing sharply in PACA ports, particularly in Marseille.Trends since 2000• From 2000 to 2014, maritime passenger ferry traffic in the studied ports declined by 10%. This is mainly explained by a shift in cross-Channel maritime traffic toward the Channel Tunnel. Meanwhile, cruise passenger numbers increased significantly. With these two opposing trends, maritime passenger traffic has remained nearly stable since 2000.
- Traffic Evolution2000–2014 evolutionFrom 2000 to 2014, passenger traffic remained nearly stable in the studied maritime ports, rising 3%. This is explained by opposite trends in ferry and cruise ship traffic. Ferry passenger numbers decreased 10% over this period while cruise passengers grew sharply, x2.7 for cruise calls and x3.7 for cruise embarkations or disembarkations.Cruise shareAcross the studied ports, cruise passengers' share of total passengers tripled from 2000 to 2014, rising from 6% to 18%.
- Maritime Passenger Traffic Distribution in 2014Ferries and cruisesIn 2014, nearly 32 million passengers were recorded across all French maritime ports. Four in five took a ferry and one in five a cruise ship, totaling 6.1 million cruise passengers and 25.7 million ferry passengers.Distribution by coastHalf the passengers transited through ports on the English Channel–North Sea coast and nearly 40% through Mediterranean ports. The two other mainland maritime coasts—North Atlantic–Western English Channel and South Atlantic—represent only small passenger shares, as do overseas departments.Ferry detail by coastIn 2014, the English Channel–North Sea coast concentrated 60% of ferry passengers, the Mediterranean 30%. This reflects major shipping routes between France, the United Kingdom, Ireland or the Maghreb, and the continent and Corsica. Overseas accounted for 4% and the North Atlantic–Western English Channel 6%, absorbing some traffic between France and the UK or Ireland.Cruise detail by coast• Mediterranean ports are important for cruises, accounting for three-quarters of traffic. The English Channel–North Sea coast accounts for just over one-tenth, as does overseas. • For cruises as for ferries, the South Atlantic coast represents a very small share of passenger transport: no ferries and less than 1% of cruise passengers.
- Detailed Maritime Passenger Traffic Distribution in 2014Variation by departmentMaritime passenger traffic, by ferry or cruise, varies significantly across coastal departments.Ferries by departmentAs the main maritime gateway to the UK, Nord and Pas-de-Calais combined accounted for over half of ferry passengers in 2014. Other northern French coastal departments are also significant: Seine-Maritime (530,000 passengers), Calvados (970,000), Manche (520,000), Ille-et-Vilaine (1,080,000) and Finistère (508,000). Further south, maritime passenger traffic is very low along the Atlantic arc. In the Mediterranean, ferry traffic concentrates in PACA and Corsica, each with over one million passengers. Haute-Corse stands out with just over 2.5 million passengers. Finally, overseas, Guadeloupe leads with nearly 750,000 ferry passengers, well ahead of others (crossings to Dominica and Martinique).Cruises by departmentFor cruises, Bouches-du-Rhône and Alpes-Maritimes departments alone concentrate 53% of passengers, with nearly 3.3 million people. Other departments with significant cruise traffic are Seine-Maritime, Var, Corse-du-Sud and the two Caribbean departments.
- Traffic Evolution in Major PortsMajor ports in 2014Calais port saw nearly 11 million passengers in 2014, far ahead of other ports such as Marseille (3.3 million), Dunkerque (2.5), Bastia (2.1), Toulon (1.9), Ajaccio (1.6), Guadeloupe (1.1) and Saint-Malo (1.1).2000–2014 evolution by portBetween 2000 and 2014, some ports saw traffic grow sharply: Dunkerque, Sète, Marseille, Toulon and Ajaccio. This is mainly explained by strong cruise passenger growth in Marseille and clear ferry increases elsewhere. Conversely, several English Channel–North Sea ports saw traffic decline (Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dieppe, Cherbourg), explained by the growing share of the Channel Tunnel, notably Eurostar, for continent–UK travel, displacing ferries (see "For more information"). Additionally, overseas traffic fell notably due to combined declines in ferry and cruise passengers.
- Cross-Channel Passengers via FranceCross-Channel traffic trendsGlobal cross-Channel traffic via France increased between 1991 and 1998, rising from approximately 25 million passengers in 1991 to over 40 million in 1998, then fluctuating between 40 and 45 million yearly. The Channel Tunnel opening in 1994 caused a gradual shift of maritime traffic to Eurostar and shuttles.Methodology• Methodology • This fact sheet covers passenger numbers departing or arriving at French metropolitan and overseas maritime ports. • Cruise passengers are counted under two modes (passengers on excursions during a cruise counted at departure and return, passengers starting or ending a cruise) and non-cruise passengers, covering regular ferry lines. • France has seven "major maritime ports" in the mainland (Dunkerque, Le Havre, Rouen, Nantes–Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Marseille) and four overseas since early 2013, all state-owned establishments. It also has many ports managed by local authorities and their associations, often operated by Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI). • Ports included in this study: Ajaccio, Bastia, Bayonne, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Brest, Caen, Calais, Cherbourg, Dieppe, Dunkerque, Fort-de-France, Guadeloupe, La Rochelle, Le Havre, Lorient, Marseille, Nantes, Port-la-Nouvelle, Port Réunion, Rouen, Saint-Malo, Sète and Toulon.AuthorAuthor: Data and Statistical Studies Service (SDES).
