Visitor numbers up by 13,000 bed nights

Thursday 16 August 2018

Visitor numbers in the second quarter of the year are up 2% on the same period last year, latest figures show.

This means 13,000 additional bed nights spent in paid for accommodation over the second quarter in 2017 – a 5% increase.

However, it isn’t all good news, as total year-to-date departing visitors are down 2% when compared to 2017, which VisitGuernsey attributes to the poor weather in the early half of the year. 

But overall bed nights in the first half of the year were 1% up on 2017, an extra 4,025 overall.

The newly released figures state there were 5% more visitors from the UK, 3% from France and 11% from ‘elsewhere’. Visitor numbers from Jersey have collapsed, with 35% - or 2,670 people – less coming to Guernsey. 

Sea travel was down by 417 people, or 1%, but air travel was up 4%, or an extra 2,050 people.

Economic Development Committee member Dawn Tindall said the growth was driven by a “particularly strong” April and May.  

“June performed less well due to repeated occurrences of fog and also due to the impact of the World Cup, with fewer people travelling generally. Despite this and including the tough Q1, it is encouraging that bed night in commercial accommodation for the year to date are still on the increase," she said.

“With additional TV and digital advertising due to go live later this month, to co-ordinate with the release of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society film on DVD and Blu-ray, we are optimistic for a positive year for Guernsey’s tourism industry.”

Marketing activity for the movie carried out during the second quarter of the year is expected to have an impact on visitor. Numbers later this year and during 2019. VisitGuernsey says there are “early positive signs” emerging from its online visitor survey showing a fifth of leisure claimed their decision to visit the island was influenced by the marketing surround the movie, or by seeing the film itself.