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Guernsey has seen a boom in tourists from North America, Australia and a number of European countries, negating a sharp drop in UK visitors.
There were 12,975 (8%) more tourists in the island during the first six months of 2019 compared to the year before.
This has been largely driven by a strong cruise ship season and an increase in staying visitors from France (+15%), Germany (30%), USA (+44%), Canada (126%) and Australia (+126%). Conversely, visitors from the UK fell by 18%.
Pictured: In total, 184,805 people visited the island between January and June - 64,364 of those arrived on a cruise ship.
“Visitors from international destinations have performed particularly well this quarter," said Director of Marketing & Tourism Mike Hopkins.
"The German, Australian and North American markets all show double or triple-digit annual growth. The French visitor market, which suffered a decline in the first quarter of the year, showed strong uplift in quarter two.
"This follows increased marketing and PR activities, working with our trade partners, implemented in France in the lead up to and following the re-opening of Victor Hugo’s Hauteville House. The increased marketing investment is set to continue in France throughout the year, to capitalise on Guernsey’s unique Victor Hugo heritage and visitor offering.”
Pictured: Hauteville House remains a key tourist attraction, especially for the French visitor market.
Economic Development Committee Member Joe Mooney said that, while air passenger numbers are down by 8%, there had been signs of encouragement in recent months.
“I’m delighted that overall visitor numbers continue to grow, with almost 13,000 additional visitors entering Guernsey’s shores in the first six months of the year compared with last year. This was helped by a particularly strong cruise visitor market.
"Following the introduction of Open Skies legislation in 2018, and the subsequent launch of six new air routes earlier this year, Guernsey airport saw its busiest ever month for passenger numbers in June. While largely driven by increased resident travel, regional marketing activity continues to be implemented across the UK and German markets, to raise awareness of these new routes amongst consumers and the travel agency trade."
Pictured top: The Crown Princess cruise ship in Guernsey yesterday.
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