We will live to regret open skies decision
ON OPEN skies, I must refer to Miles Cowsill’s book ‘Ferries of the Channel Islands, Past & Present’ where he states ‘British Railways, later marketed as Sealink, were to hold the monopoly of operations until 1984. There had been pressure in Jersey and Guernsey to allow a competitor to operate against them but sadly, this short sightedness was not to reap dividends for anyone.’ He goes on to say ‘the ending of the monopoly of Sealink in 1985 can now be viewed as folly, as they did operate an all-the-year round and regular service during all the seasons, for both islanders and visitors.’
We know that many operators have come and gone over the years and with Condor up for sale who knows what the future will bring?
Anyway, we had some bloke from the Isle of Man government saying that open skies were nothing to fear. Well I went to an exhibition at The Coach House Gallery featuring wildlife artist Jeremy Paul who lives in the Isle of Man and he told me their air connectivity was absolute rubbish with easyJet.
They would cancel a return flight at the drop of a hat, and they had a very second-class service, which the Opinion column of 23 July seems to verify (‘Free market comes at a high price’). Manx Airlines were bought up and their important slots were then flogged off to the highest bidder, leaving the IoM well and truly stuffed.
I believe a very bad decision has been made and we will live to regret it. No one can blame Derek Coates for taking a commercial view regarding this, he is running an airline, not a charity and he has placed on record the sort of money he has invested in to Blue Islands and yet most of our elected representatives, some of whom would struggle to run a bath never mind a business, have effectively stabbed him in the back.
Now, it is well known that tourism is in decline, despite what civil service spin may be put on it and I have a radical idea. We should have a system where participating retailers, hotels, beach kiosks, taxis, indeed everyone, could offer a 5% retrospective rebate on items purchased by visitors. The visitor would get receipts for purchases and hand them in at the airport along with their form and they would get sent a cheque or bank payment from the States of Guernsey for their 5%, which would go towards their air fares. The businesses involved would get direct debited for their 5% contribution, but if visitors spent enough they would get heavily subsidised or even free travel. ‘Go to Guernsey for free!’ (terms & conditions apply) would be a great strapline. I know there would be some administration but let’s face it, if it brought more visitors to Guernsey and they spent more money in local businesses, where is the downside? My business would sign on to it without hesitation. Of course it must be a fair 5%, businesses must not put their prices up by 6% to give a 5% rebate.
TREVOR HOCKEY,
Trev’s Motorcycles.