Potato Peel Pie could attract Australians to visit island
GUERNSEY should not overlook Australia when it comes to marketing the island on the back of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society film, said a Guernsey woman who has set up a new company to bring small groups of Australians to the island.
Jessica Reid was born and raised in Guernsey, the daughter of Warren and Liz Barrett (nee Duquemin).
Mrs Reid trained as a nurse here before deciding to spend time travelling the world.
Even though her travels involved spending time in Australia, it was only after she returned to the island that she met her future husband, veterinarian Simon Reid – an Australian who was working at Isabelle Vets.
The couple moved back to Mr Reid’s home country some 23 years ago, raised three sons and now live in Brisbane, but Mrs Reid said that partly inspired by the release of the Potato Peel Pie film at cinemas over there, she decided to look at offering Guernsey visits to small groups of people.
‘After the film came out I was saying “Guernsey is an absolutely delightful place and from the film you can’t appreciate what it looks like”.’
A number of people suggested she take tour groups to the island. ‘I thought that wasn’t a bad idea, and it was something I would love to do.’
The result is her new tour company, Guernsey Australian Travel Adventures, and she is planning to have a first group come to the island in June next year.
Mrs Reid has already prepared an itinerary spanning a stay of several days, which includes visits to the usual island attractions such as Castle Cornet and Candie Museum, and at least one day that will be devoted to locations mentioned in the book of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
She has also researched the de Sausmarez family, and has booked their former town house – Moore’s Hotel – for her first group. So far five people have signed up and her goal is to keep numbers down to about 10.
‘I’m trying to keep it small and exclusive, so I can give people a really local experience, telling them the stories I grew up with as a child,’ she said.
Among those stories were tales of the Occupation recounted to her by her grandfather, Gerald Duquemin, founder of Capelles Building Stores.
‘I’ll come with them,’ said Mrs Reid. ‘But I won’t be the tour guide. I want to access the local guides who specialise in their fields.’
Before returning to Brisbane, Mrs Reid planned to meet Economic Development member Deputy Dawn Tindall and marketing and VisitGuernsey’s director of marketing and tourism Mike Hopkins to see if there is anything that VisitGuernsey can do to help promote the island Down Under.
It was reported recently that more funds have been released to the tourism promotional body to capitalise on the release of the film on DVD/Blu-ray in the UK and on Netflix in America.
‘There’s a lot of interest among Australians,’ said Mrs Reid, adding that there were a lot of Guernsey expatriates both there and in New Zealand. ‘A little bit of help to advertise in Australia would go a long way.’
n Anyone who would like to know more about Guernsey Australian Travel Adventures, or who can provide information about things that might be of interest to the Australian visitors, can email Mrs Reid at j.e.reid42@gmail.com.
