Games needs beds as much as funding
THE Guernsey Island Games Association will find out later this summer if its bid to host the event in 2021 is successful. And while the States has agreed to at least £750,000 of funding, it acknowledges further costs will likely be incurred improving sports facilities. What was only briefly covered in Education, Sport & Culture's proposals, though, is the question of accommodation for the likely 3,500 competitors, spectators, officials and media the sporting spectacle will attract. Plus any other visitors staying during the Games.
ES&C state that the island has 1,000 fewer beds than in 2003, when capacity was around 2,700. But it fails to point out that whereas nearly 2,500 visitors were put up during those Games, the likely number needing a room in 2021 will have swelled by at least 1,000 – if Jersey's figures for 2015 are anything to go by. Basic arithmetic suggests Guernsey is in fact nigh on 2,000 beds short with five years to go.
Not a problem according to the bid team, which said it will work with VisitGuernsey to find extra beds or temporary accommodation if successful.
But how? Lerwick commandeered two cruise ships for its extra capacity in 2005. Could that work here? Possibly, depending on the weather, but at what cost? And while camping might be an option for a small number of spectators, it seems unlikely to give competitors the quality of rest required to smash records and win medals.
Perhaps this is underestimating the creativity of the island's tourism team. Maybe conjuring up almost double our current bed stock at reasonable rates is easier than it sounds.
The Policy & Resources chief will be as keen as anyone to find a permanent solution to increase capacity and use the Games platform to help rebuild the industry. What better way to diversify the island's revenue stream than by ensuring a solid income from even a modest tourism industry?
But with transport links floundering, figures for sea travel down and air numbers flat at best, how likely is this?
For the numbers to work – and for Guernsey's long-term future – a Herculean effort must be put into building on the island's appeal with its known tourist demographic while growing capacity.
If not, Guernsey's third Games is at serious risk of a false start well before the Opening Ceremony.
