Tallink Silja starts cruising to Visby

Ferry traffic between Finland and Sweden was forced to be drastically reduced when travel restrictions were imposed because of the corona pandemic. When Finland opens borders to a number of neighboring countries in a first step, Sweden is not included.

The situation has prompted Tallink Silja to look for new avenues to get the business started. The company is now starting to compete for Gotland travelers. During July, Tallink Silja operates the Stockholm-Visby route via Mariehamn.

Viking Line already offers Visby cruises on four occasions in July and August.

- Now we test this. We see that there is an extreme desire to travel but you do not want to go far and Visby is one of Sweden's most beloved destinations. says Erika Janson.

The arrangement is a "typical" cruise. The ferry leaves Stockholm in the afternoon, arrives in Mariehamn at midnight and arrives in Visby the morning after, for a day's stop on Gotland. The stop in Mariehamn is made to offer duty-free shopping.

But at the same time, there are a lot of things that are different to what it usually is - fewer passengers than usual are allowed to board and many safety routines have been introduced, including on boarding and disembarking. Regular exclamations should remind travelers to wash their hands and keep their distance.

- We will take a maximum of 1,000 people on board, which can normally be up to 2,500 people. This is to ensure that there is plenty of space and opportunity for social distance, says Erika Janson.

For Tallink Silja, the Gotland trips are a way to try to save some of the summer's revenue. Tallink Silja currently operates the Stockholm-Turku route with two vessels, mainly for freight, but also for business travelers, job commuting.

- A ship that goes is better than one that stands still. So far, our bad luck is that we have a lot of freight capacity and have received some help from the Finnish and Estonian governments to run socially beneficial goods, says Erika Janson.

For Gotland, it is a positive message that more tourists can travel to the island this summer, according to Frida Ganshed, operations manager at Gotland's united visitor industry.

- It's a positive message for Gotland and it shows that things are starting to get underway again. We assume that everyone who travels here follows the restrictions that exist and we think that Tallink Silja does, ”says Frida Ganshed.