Visitors down on last pre-Covid year

The total number of visitors for the first quarter was 26,162.

In 2019, the nearest pre-pandemic comparable year, the total was more than 6,000 higher.

The data comes from a new bulletin published by the States to provide information on visitors to the Bailiwick as well as statistics on Guernsey residents’ travelling habits.

Residents also travelled away less for leisure too. There were 44,360 from the island in the first three months of the year, almost a quarter fewer than before the pandemic in 2019.

Additionally, just over 2,000 fewer business travellers arrived in the island in Q1 this year compared to the same period in 2019.

Visit Guernsey said the decrease in numbers could be explained by fewer holidays being taken post-Covid due to factors such as the cost of living increases.

The Guernsey travel and visitor accommodation transitional bulletin will be published quarterly to ensure the industry benefits from more detailed information.

The bulletin uses data gathered via surveys of people leaving Guernsey, alongside data submitted by visitor accommodation providers and Guernsey Ports.

Visitors leaving the island by plane or ferry are asked how likely they would be to recommend Guernsey to a friend or relative. This is presented as the net promoter score.

Industry standard see 50 considered as ‘good’, with above 70 being considered ‘world class’.

The average NPS given by visitors travelling by plane or ferry was 55, up from 52 in 2019. Higher scores of 72 and 70 were given by visitors seeing friends and family and those visiting for leisure purposes.

However visitors travelling for business only gave the island a score of 35.

One statistic hidden in the report was the NPS score given by country of residence. For visitors from the UK it was 61, for those coming from Jersey it was just 38.