getting to know...josé herrero, p&o ferries account manager
07.02.09 - 13:26 -
José Herrero at Fitur. / SUR
Although José Herrero is now based in Bilbao, where his full working title is “P&O Ferries Key Account Manager Spain and Portugal - Tourist”, he knows southern Spain well and has been coming to Fuengirola as often as he can for many years.
Have you noticed many changes?
Fuengirola has changed enormously! And for the better - it just looks so much better, there have been huge improvements since I started coming here.
Has business changed too?
Just as much! I’ve been with P&O Ferries all along and the biggest change has been in the way people plan their travels. It used to be all travel agencies, but now 70 per cent of our bookings are made privately.
The ‘Pride of Bilbao’ is looking good - how old is she?
She’s 20, but she’s been doing the Bilbao route for 16 years and a total of about three million passengers - so far. That’s about 200,000 a year at the moment. She’s in tremendous shape - a great ship!
Who are the passengers?
We have a lot of Spanish passengers, but a lot of others too - people who want to travel to and from the UK on holiday with their car, or moving from one country to another for long periods. The Brits like the “mini cruise” concept too, and we have a specialist on board who studies the movements of whales and dolphins, so we get a lot of people on the “Whales and Dolphins” trail. The Bay of Biscay is a particularly good place for spotting wild life!
And your plans for the future?
More of the same for a while, but eventually, I’ll be spending even more time down south!
