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As Jersey looks to refresh its own offering for tourists, new figures have shed light on how its sister island is getting on with attracting visitors.
Guernsey's recently published annual travel and visitor statistics showed that, although people liked the experience once they were on the island, getting people to come to the Channel Islands in the first place was an issue.
Jersey's Visitor Economy Strategy – published last month by the Government in partnership with Visit Jersey and industry representatives – highlighted the larger island's falling visitor numbers, from 771,000 in 2019 to 475,000 in 2022.
The report revealed that the Government of Jersey was considering compulsory purchasing sites for new hotels and a 'bed tax' to raise funds for the struggling tourism and hospitality sectors.
Pictured: Jersey's Visitor Economy Strategy said that the decline in visitor accommodation bed stock is now reaching “critical levels”.
In comparison to 475,000 visitors to Jersey during 2022, there were 513,349 visitors to Guernsey in the same year. The latter figures included visitors from cruise ships, however.
Reacting to the island's new figures, the Guernsey Hospitality Association said that everyone involved in tourism needs to recognise there is a problem before improvements can be made.
Downward trends when 2023 was compared to 2019 were highlighted by the GHA:
Visitors departing by air: down 44,000, -24%.
Leisure visitors: down 56,000, - 34%.
Business/work visitors: down 14,000, - 32%.
Staying visitors down: 52,000, - 23%.
Visitors staying in hotels: down 34,000, - 24%.
Visitors staying in (classed as ‘other’) S/C, GH, Campsites etc: down 10,000, -29%.
But the figures also showed that the Bailiwick was getting a positive response from people who did come:
87% of visitors reported that the customer service level at their accommodation was high or very high
84% that island knowledge and the overall standard of accommodation was high or very high, 81% that the food quality at their accommodation was high or very high.
The most popular activity, undertaken by 85% of visitors leaving by aeroplane and ferry during 2023, was eating and/or drinking out.
The GHA said: “So, the vast majority of visitors like the Guernsey/Bailiwick experience once they are here.
"The natural scenery, heritage, quality of accommodation, and the dining out options available all make it a special place to visit.
“But we need to find ways to tempt potential visitors to book a flight or a ferry to come here in the first place, and that is a challenge.
“The current oversight of the visitor economy and hospitality industry is messy, with three groups all having different levels of input. We have the Economic Development committee, Visit Guernsey, and the Tourism Management Board. But do we really have joined-up thinking for the whole industry?"
Pictured: The Guernsey Hospitality Association acknowleged the "significant losses on the number of visitors from Jersey" in the past few years.
The GHA also referenced the "significant losses on the number of visitors from Jersey" in the past few years.
"Now, due to no charter flights this year, we are also looking at huge losses on visitors coming from Germany," they added.
“We have to ask, is there the political will needed to get us out of this situation? Is the right level of funding in place? Where is the qualified leadership to push forwards to achieve a return to 2019 visitor numbers?”
Guernsey's Tourism Management Board strategy is due out next month.
“Will it show a clear pathway to future growth?" asked the GHA.
"Because if we carry on as we are hoping for some incremental annual growth, we won’t be successful.
"We need to act differently to achieve different results.”
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