‘Quality is more important than quantity with cruise passengers’

While in the past Guernsey has seen dozens of ships moor offshore with 3,000 or more passengers on board, this year only six of this size are so far scheduled to visit of the 74 that are due.

Machon’s Ltd jewellery shop owner Will Van Zanten said the numbers who came ashore were not as important than when in the journey the visit to the island took place, as well as the nationality of the visitors.

‘We tend to find if you have mainly British people and it’s the last stop on the way home, they tend to spend,’ he said.

‘They’re back in their own language and their own currency and that tends to be a good day.’

By contrast, he said American visitors were less likely to spend, or spend big.

‘Maybe they’re on the whole European trip and they have to make their money go further,’ he said.

He was not worried about there being more smaller liners visiting this year.

‘It’s definitely a case of quality over quantity. If you’ve got the right people and they’re feeling prosperous, it will be good.’

But cruise ship visitors were more the icing on the cake rather than being a major source of revenue, said Mr Van Zanten.

A Guernsey Retail Group spokesman said that as a sector it was not concerned about the size of the ships due this year.

‘While cruise ship passengers form part of the overall mix of customers, as a sector we are not unduly worried by the news that smaller vessels may visit the Bailiwick in 2024 in comparison with previous years,’ he said.

‘We would like to see to see greater emphasis on making Town, the Bridge, and other shopping areas as appealing and attractive as possible for both locals and visitors alike.’

Amanda Johns of Tours of Guernsey is a silver accredited tour guide and said that often a smaller percentage of visitors would come ashore from a large ship than from a smaller one, and that could depend on the operator.

‘A lot of the passengers will be on all-inclusive cruises and they will already have paid for their tours,’ she said.

‘A lot of the higher-end cruise lines tend to be the smaller ships.’

Smaller ships also often stayed longer which meant that people could do two tours in a day, or go on a longer one.

On busy days she passed tours on to other guides who she worked with, she said.

The reduction in the number of the larger liners did not worry her.

‘I’m positive about the season and I think it will be a good one.’

• The first cruise ship set to visit is the 230-capacity Hanseatic Nature on Sunday 7 April.