Economic Development president Neil Inder revealed the figure in the States yesterday, as he faced questions about his committee’s performance on tourism.
‘I had some indications overnight that over the Easter period Brittany Ferries will bring at least 250 passengers a day straight into our island on day trips,’ he said.
‘Of course, that will not replace cruise passengers, but it will help in some way.
‘Those day-trippers will spend a lot of their time around Town, helping retail and food and beverage businesses.’
The ferry company said last month that bookings to Guernsey were 16% higher than at the same time in 2024, with foot passengers from St Malo up 136%, and forward bookings up 77%.
Listen to a round-up of yesterday at the States on our Shorthand States podcast
Deputy Inder yesterday put the year-on-year increase at ‘around 80%’ and told the Assembly that his committee was ‘getting indications that there will be significant improvements on that figure’.
Guernsey welcomed about 45,000 fewer visitors last year than the year before, and the number of incoming passengers is now more than a third lower than before the Covid pandemic.
The decline has been blamed almost entirely on the island’s shrinking cruise liner sector, which is not expected to pick up again until next year at the earliest.
But Deputy Inder claimed that the island’s new deal with Brittany Ferries was already generating new business.
The company and the committee are co-funding marketing activity.
‘In 2025 the committee has committed £1.9m. of its budget to marketing Guernsey as a destination – an uplift from 2024 by £250,000, which is being used for additional shoulder month marketing, co-marketing with the carriers, which has already proven to be very successful, and event marketing.
‘Guernsey is in a very, very good position.
‘Guernsey is loved in Saint Malo right now for the work we did on the contract we signed.
‘We are in a very good position and I would encourage whoever comes after me to remember that.’
Visitors arriving by air were down 3% last year and have dropped by more than a quarter since the pandemic.
Deputy Gavin St Pier asked the Economic Development president whether the decline in air passengers could ever be reversed.
‘I’d like to think it was possible, but in reality I suspect not,’ said Deputy Inder.
‘The decline includes business visitors and Covid has changed the way business is done.’
‘In terms of getting more visitors to the island by air, whether we like it or not, [Aurigny’s] black swan events of last year did not help Guernsey at all.’
Deputy Inder repeated a previous claim that the island’s ports, currently the responsibility of the States Trading Supervisory Board, were under the control of the wrong committee.
He criticised people in the tourism industry who he felt spent too much time complaining about Guernsey’s problems rather than speaking about its attractions.
‘The negativity is sometimes promoted by so-called representatives of the industry,’ said Deputy Inder.
‘I remind you that there are millions and millions of pounds being invested in the island. Look at what’s happening at La Grande Mare and at the Bella Luce and what Little Big Company have done at the Peninsula Hotel. The people who invest in this island and develop their product will do well and those who live in the 1980s simply won’t.
‘We’ve got enough external problems without eating ourselves.’
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.