025/03 4 July 2003

Booking Bonanza for Spirit of Tasmania III

The Spirit of Tasmania Call Centre in Devonport was inundated today with people calling to book a journey on Spirit's newest ship, Spirit of Tasmania III, which will travel between Sydney and Devonport.

Miranda Foster, Manager Reservations and Information Systems for the company, said that with Spirit of Tasmania III bookings opening today, they had called in all available staff to deal with the extraordinary number of calls; 1,346 calls had been taken from the time the Call Centre opened at 6.30am up until 2.30pm.

“We have had such a terrific response, ”said Ms Foster. “We normally have 30 to 35 Call Centre Consultants working at a time, but we have 50 Consultants in today, and customers are waiting for short periods in telephone queues. Everyone is extremely positive about the Sydney to Devonport service, which is terrific.”

Chief Executive Peter Simmons said the response to the new ship announced yesterday was fantastic but had been expected since research had shown a demand for the service. “It definitely shows how enthusiastic people are about the service when they are already making bookings for next year,” Mr Simmons said.

The Spirit of Tasmania website recorded 161, 535 hits yesterday.

For bookings and enquiries, customers can contact the Spirit of Tasmania Call Centre on 13 20 10, or visit www.spiritoftasmania.com.au

Ends

*Please note that for commercial confidentiality, booking numbers cannot currently be released

For further information contact:
Ms Simone Ferrier
Manager Corporate Communications
Telephone: 03 9206 6220 or 0417 540 583