Paul Derham has created a genius idea to lure tourists to jump on his ferry - he started ghost ship tours.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit earlier this year, it affected many cruise ships, which had to postpone future trips until the situation improved.
Derham decided that he was going to make use of the “ghost” ships and offer tours for people to see these enormous ships up close with his two local ferries in Mudeford, a harbourside and beach-side parish in the east of Christchurch in Dorset, England.
When he saw that some cruise liners were close to his ferry routes, he decided to start the famous tours, which has sparked much interest.
Derham spoke to CNN Travel about the new venture: "I am completely overwhelmed with the attention. And a little bit proud, without being big-headed, that we managed to pull it off." He said he gets around 80 to 100 phones calls a day from people who want to go on the tours.
"We can't keep a physical list of everybody's name. We're just going to advertise it on Facebook, but it's going to be first come first serve. But if we see a break in the weather, we're just going to try to do them all day long, as many as we can, to get as many people out there. We just enjoy doing it,” he told the publication.
Derham, who has been in the cruise industry himself, shares his knowledge of cruises during the two and a half hour tour. When they get close to the ship, about 50 meters, he educates them on the cruise liners, which guests love.
People shared their experience on the company's Facebook page.
User Nicole Rossa commented: "Lucky enough to go on ths tour yesterday ! A great tour and highly recommended!"(sic)
Another user named Mel Sargent commented: "Fantastic trip today and excellent hosting and commentary." (sic).