Hospitality sector at ‘tipping point’ over price of alcohol

It has warned deputies of its concerns and urged a move similar to Jersey, which has frozen duty on alcohol in its Budget for 2025.

Alcohol duty has gone up some 60% over the past decade. Recent years have seen above-RPI increases in duty on health grounds, and duty locally is higher than in Jersey and a lot higher than in the UK.

‘We believe we are at a tipping point where consumption in our local hospitality venues is becoming unattainable to some and perceived as very expensive by our visitors,’ said Guernsey Hospitality Association president Alan Sillett in the letter to deputies.

‘The question is, do we want to encourage a vibrant hospitality industry, or do we continue to increase duties pushing consumption to supermarkets and into people’s homes? The damage already caused to our tourism industry is hard to determine but we are very concerned that we are getting to a point of no return in how the island is now perceived by our repeat visitors.

‘If we have more increases in alcohol duty we will suffer irreparable damage to our industry and reputation of the island.’

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