The annual National Ferry Fortnight is being brought forward by two months to March this year.
The new dates of March 17-31 were announced by organiser the Passenger Shipping Association as Dover-Calais operator SeaFrance went into administration.
The PSA said the date change from May was designed to “emphasise the great value of family ferry travel at a time when parents have a watchful eye on budgets”.
A new official logo will front the campaign which is supported by all ferry line members of the association. The two week showcase aims to heighten consumer and media awareness of the UK’s more than 50 ferry routes.
PSA members including Brittany Ferries, Condor Ferries, DFDS Seaways, Hovertravel, Isle Of Man Steam Packet Company, Irish Ferries, LD Lines, P&O Ferries, Red Funnel, Stena Line and Wightlink will take part.
It comes as the association estimated that around 35 million people, 8 million cars and 140,000 coaches were carried by ferries in 2011.
A series of promotional offers on ferry routes are planned as part of the campaign, to the Continent, Spain, Ireland and UK islands which promoted on the discoverferries.com website.
PSA director Bill Gibbons said: “Particularly for families, Britain’s ferry services offer a reliable and flexible way to travel that’s good value for money.
“Our ferry members are keen to bring forward the success of National Ferry Fortnight to March 2012 so families can plan and take advantage of the great range of opportunities presented by ferry companies.”