The continued popularity of the TT has again been highlighted after sailings for the 2021 festival were released by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
More than 71 per cent of passengers booked to travel with the Company to this year’s TT – which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic – have transferred their bookings to next year’s event.
Meanwhile, demand for new deposit bookings for TT 2021 was high when reservations opened on Monday 25th May.
Additional staff were drafted in to help handle an anticipated high volume of calls to the call centre and the website was also very busy with 2,374 bookings processed throughout the day.
As of midnight on Tuesday 26th May, more than 24,000 passengers and close to 12,000 motorcycles are booked to travel to the Isle of Man with the Steam Packet Company from Wednesday 26th May – Friday 11th June 2021.
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Chief Executive Mark Woodward said: ‘It is pleasing to see that, despite the initial disappointment many felt when this year’s event had to be cancelled, the enduring popularity and demand to travel to the TT remains high.
‘Once the Isle of Man Government made the decision on the grounds of health and wellbeing, we contacted passengers who were due to travel with us this year and worked promptly to confirm provisional sailing schedules for TT 2021 to make the transfer process as seamless as possible.
‘We are delighted so many passengers opted to transfer their bookings but also to see such great demand for TT 2021 with a number of new deposit bookings processed both online and over the telephone this week. The website and reservations team coped with the high number of enquiries well and assisted thousands of TT fans in securing their travel.
‘I would like to thank our hard-working staff for their fantastic efforts this week and we look forward to welcoming back TT travellers and motorcycling enthusiasts to our Island in safer times next year.’
Confirmation of sailings and fares will be sent out towards the end of 2020, with final balance payments due by the end of February 2021.
Bike fans arriving on the Isle of Man during the TT Races 2019 – courtesy of Pacemaker Press
