Late summer tourists figure is a third lower than pre-Covid
The number of late summer tourists has dropped by a third compared with before the pandemic.
But there has been a slight rise in the number of people visiting to see friends and family.
The latest quarterly tourism report, covering July to September, has revealed that the number of people departing the island – both residents, visitors and cruise ships tourists – was 193,000 in the third quarter.
This compares with 219,167 during quarter three 2023 – a decrease of 12%. It is also 26% lower than in quarter three 2019.
Looking at visitors’ main reason for visiting, 53,000 came as tourists – a drop from 56,000 for the same period last year and from 84,000 in 2019.
Business traveller numbers have also dropped, from 12,000 in Q3 2019 to 7,000 in the last quarter.
But there has been a turnaround in the number of people coming over to visit friends and family. That number sat at 19,000 in Q3 2019. But in the last quarter there were more than 22,000.
Looking at departing passengers, where about 9% were surveyed, flying remains the most popular method, with 50,000 residents and nearly 50,000 tourists flying.
But for residents flying appears to be becoming a less favourable option, as 52,000 flew in Q3 2023 and 60,000 in Q3 2019.
Rather surprisingly, ferry figures have bucked the trend for residents. More than 19,000 took the sea route in the last quarter, up from 16,000 last year and 15,000 in 2019.
The ferry trend was not shared by visitors, with 40,000 using the ferry in the last quarter, down from 42,000 in the same quarter in 2023, and 55,000 in 2019.
There were more than 1,900 units of visitor accommodation available for booking during the three months, with occupancy of 73% in July, 84% in August and 80% in September 2024.
Respondents to the exit surveys were asked for comments.
The highest number of comments were about travel delays, making up 18% of all feedback given. This compares to travel delays making up 4% of the comments in Q3 2023.
The high cost of travel made up 12% of the comments, while 7% said they not seen much during their stay.
More positively 6% of all comments provided positive feedback on the attractions they had visited, including Hauteville House, La Vallette Bathing Pools, Castle Cornet and the Little Chapel.
