Guernsey Press

Survey shows where island stands apart

AT FIRST glance, the survey into islanders’ satisfaction with air and sea travel is a statement of the bleedin’ obvious.

Published

Of course cost is a major concern for Guernsey travellers. A glance at social media and the letters page of this newspaper tells you that.

But this is about more than just Guernsey. Looking past the headline figures it is the comparisons with Jersey and the Isle of Man that are most revealing.

The relative levels of satisfaction show that Guernsey people are out of step with the other Crown Dependencies.

If it was simply a question of failing to accept the inevitable price of living on an island you would expect people in Jersey and the Isle of Man to be similarly grumpy.

But the disparity between the three islands is distinct.

Just one in eight (12%) of Guernsey travellers, for example, are satisfied with the cost of air travel. The Isle of Man is more than double that at 31% and Jersey is almost three times happier.

It is a definite outlier. Guernsey passengers are broadly happy (62%) with the range of flight destinations on offer. That is more than either of the other two islands.

And all three are equally unhappy with the costs of sea travel.

Where Guernsey and Jersey stand out again is with the reliability of sea travel. Less than a quarter (23%) of Guernsey seafarers thought ferries were reliable enough and even fewer (16%) were happy with the times of departure.

The Isle of Man, by contrast, considers its ferry service reliable and timely. It is a stark difference.

Does all this help? Or does it just reinforce the central beliefs of Guernsey people that air fares need to come down, ferries are too much of a lottery and we don’t care that much about direct flights to Timbuktu so long as we can get to the UK and an international hub airport?

It is a strong pointer for the States. When weighing up air and sea link priorities there is often a tendency for deputies to focus on drawing in off-island leisure and business travellers to the detriment of the resident population.

The survey shows that attention needs to be paid closer to home.