'Transport must be the foundation of tourism'

Although occupancy rates for tourist beds have been strong, the representative body for the industry said that there had been a few ‘own goals’ – mostly linked to transport.

‘We need to make it as easy, cost-effective and pleasurable as possible for people to come here,’ said Alan Sillett, chairman of the Guernsey Hospitality Association.

‘Some of the well-publicised issues with fares, connectivity, ferry timetables and lack of taxis have, unfortunately, been something of an own goal.

‘Looked at in the round, Guernsey has much to offer as a tourist destination and we all need to be working together to maximise our potential. That means making the visitor experience truly excellent and one that they wish to repeat. The foundations for that are better, more reliable and more affordable transport links to and from Guernsey, and also on-island.’

The association has been in regular contact with Economic Development and is looking to address a number of issues for next year, including transport and an apparent lack of correlation between bed nights and passenger numbers for 2019 and 2022.

‘Yes, there has been something of a bounce-back but we all need that to be sustainable and the actual passenger movement figures don’t necessarily support that.’

Air passenger movements compared to 2019 were down 22% in May, 21% in June and 21% in July, with some routes losing thousands of passengers, while people travelling by sea were down 36%, 32% and 34% over the same period, with numbers down for UK, France and inter-island travel.

‘You cannot have significant drops in passenger movement statistics and the higher bed occupancy rates that have been quoted – the two do not correlate,’ he said.

While the GHA and the sector remained optimistic, there were some concerning trends and these have been raised with Economic Development.

Mr Sillett said his committee looked forward to a constructive dialogue with the political one, particularly over its new tourism strategy, because it was in everyone’s interests to have a vibrant tourist economy.

‘What’s often forgotten is that around half of all those using the existing sea and air links are visitors,’ he said.

‘Reduce that to any significant degree and imagine the effect that would have on connectivity and the cost of fares.'

The GHA has also asked Economic Development for the latest update regarding a runway extension.

Tourism ‘shaped up incredibly well’ in 2022 – ED president

GUERNSEY’S visitor economy has ‘shaped up incredibly well’ this year, said Economic Development president Neil Inder, as his committee turns its attentions to 2023.

Deputy Inder said he had set himself a goal to ensure that the year after Covid would equal or improve upon the year before.

‘We won’t know entirely until the end of 2022 what it looks like but it’s shaped up incredibly well,’ he said.

‘We’re very happy that we made the right decision transforming VisitGuernsey into something more leaner and keener, freed it up a little bit.’

‘2022 is done. That’s fantastic. Put in the box, move on. What are you going do tomorrow?’

He was encouraged by tourist accommodation developments, both in glamping and the new Premier Inn.

Figures from VisitGuernsey last month predicted that bed occupancy was going to reach 89% by the end of August, compared to an industry average of 75% in 2019.

But Deputy Inder admitted that transport issues had been disappointing, particularly on-island with driver shortages for buses and taxis.

He favours reducing barriers for licensing of drivers.

. As of 10 August Guernsey airport had seen 280,000 passenger movements, compared to 315,000 in the first half of 2019 although Aurigny reported an increased in passenger volume in the second quarter to the point where it exceeded numbers from the same period in 2019. At the harbours, June saw 1,500 visiting boats, better than 2019, and 2,000 vessels came in July, which was only slightly down on 2019.