HOVERSPEED claims to have generated more than 5,000 e-mail bookings since it launched the facility on its Web site last summer.
The company relaunched the multi-lingual site in June with new information on fares, schedules, shopping and special offers.
Hoverspeed now estimates that the site receives an average of 63,000 visitors a month, compared with 4,000 before the relaunch.
The operator is planning to follow through with a full on-line booking service by the end of the year.
To promote the site, the company has painted its Internet address on the stern doors of its twin hovercraft, Princess Margaret and Princess Anne.
Meanwhile, Hoverspeed has just published a six-page winter schedule covering its network of services between the UK, France and Belgium.
A five-day return from Folkestone to Boulogne costs from £107 – up from £85 last year. The ferry operator has increased its fares across the board since the abolition of duty-free on July 1.
TABLE: Hoverspeed: plans to introduce a full on-line booking system by the end of the year