Businesses, attractions feel drop in cruise passengers
BUSINESSES and tourist attractions felt the fall in cruise ship passengers coming ashore last summer.
Over the 2017 season, Economic Development found that the average spend of each cruise ship passenger had increased by 16% to £36.46 a year, but the number of passengers who came ashore fell to 110,288, down from 133,000 in 2016.
Largely this was due to the fact that 15 cruise ships failed to come to the island due to adverse weather.
Martyn Guille runs Guernsey Clockmakers at Les Vauxbelets and he said the downturn in passenger numbers had beenvery noticeable.
‘When it’s a bad weather day it really knocks you back because you think it will be a special day but it’s not.
‘Generally we rely on the cruise ship market for our sales, but tourism is really struggling. When the ships aren’t in you don’t see many people around here,’ he said.
‘We must be one of the most visited attractions in Guernsey, so it’s quite a good barometer to tell you who’s around.’
Full story in today's Guernsey Press
