With more visitors than ever recommending Guernsey as a holiday destination, Express explores why.
The latest ‘Quarterly Travel and Visitor Accommodation Bulletin’ shares data collated during the first three months of this year.
People travelling here during that time have given the island its highest ‘Net Promoter Score’ ever.
Charlie Walker, Co-Chair of the Tourism Advisory Board, said while this is good news, the challenge will be to keep the NPS high and to encourage visitors to keep returning while telling others to also come here.
“These figures are genuinely encouraging,” she said.
“A record NPS or 72 and a 60% jump in French Visitors tell us that Guernsey’s appeal is broadening and that visitors are leaving happy. For the tourism sector, rising bed nights and longer average stays translate directly into commercial opportunity.
“The challenge now is to sustain this momentum through peak summer season and beyond.”
Net Promoter Score
The Tourism Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric used by tourism and hospitality businesses such as hotels, airlines, destinations, and visitor attractions, to measure customer loyalty and the likelihood of being recommended to other people.
Used widely as a ‘key performance indicator’ it is calculated through surveys asking people how much they would rate a destination or business to their friends and family on a score out of 10.
Any score of six or less out of ten is deducted from the percentage of visitors surveyed that gave a score of ten or nine out of ten.
Visit Guernsey uses the NPS to advertise the island and to fine-tune marketing campaigns.
The latest NPS will be used to push visitors during the summer months and into the shoulder months and next year.
Record high
At 72, Guernsey’s current NPS is one point higher than the previous record high which was set last autumn.
The 72 points were achieved during the first three months of this year, and is 12 points higher than the same time last year, and 17 points higher than the NPS was during the first three months of 2023.
Visitors were not asked to rate the island during the covid pandemic.
Prior to 2020, the NPS was collated slightly differently, with anyone from Alderney not included in the data.
However, since the beginning of 2023, anyone who lives in Alderney but is travelling through Guernsey via commercial flight or ferry, has been asked to rate their experience out of 10.
Any passenger (regardless of country of residence) who is leaving Guernsey by aeroplane or ferry after only visiting Guernsey on their way to or from somewhere outside the Bailiwick (and, as such, potentially may not have left the port) remain excluded from the net promoter scores analysis.
Anyone visiting Guernsey on a cruise ship or private yacht are not asked to complete the survey and are not represented within net promoter scores. This might change in the future.
Visitors
Other data relevant to the NPS is also collated through the surveys.
People are asked if they have visited before – with 79% of all people who travelled to Guernsey during the first three months of this year being return visitors.
2% of them had visited Guernsey on a cruise ship in the past.
Visitors are also asked what the main purpose of their visit is, with those seeing family or friends in the island giving the highest score out of 10, while those visiting on business gave the lowest scores.
Most people who visited Guernsey between January and March this year stayed for between ‘1 and 30 nights’, with a majority also here to see family or friends.
People visiting from the UK made up the majority of Guernsey’s visitors in the first quarter of this year – but the number of visitors from France has grown 60% year-on-year, or 82% compared to three years ago.
The data can all be viewed at gov.gg.
Reason for visiting
More details could be gleaned from some of the survey results, to paint a wider picture of the reasons why people have travelled to Guernsey.
Between January and March this year, 9,623 visitors said they had come to Guernsey to see family or friends.
7,048 were here for ‘business’, 5,676 for ‘leisure’, and 3,845 visitors were here for ‘other reasons’.
685 (or 18%) of those people who said they had travelled to Guernsey for ‘other reasons’ mentioned sport in their survey responses.
They were here either as a participant or spectator for sports including the car rally, football, rugby, hockey, and swimming.
They represented just under 3% of all visitors during the first quarter of this year.
The other category also includes visitors to Guernsey in transit, visitors on a school trip, and visitors in Guernsey for medical/hospital purposes.
270 of the visitors during quarter one were long stay visitors, having stayed more than 30 nights but less than one year, and the majority of those people were in Guernsey for work reasons.
Quarterly v Annual stats
The most recently available data relates to the first three months of 2026 only.
However, we have the 2025 annual report so we can dig into the data for last year in more detail.
Specifically, the annual report offers information on the ‘experiences of visitors to Guernsey’, ‘activities undertaken by visitors and their rationale and reasons for
visiting Guernsey, and how much money they spent while here.
We know from this report that 85% of surveyed visitors cited the island’s natural beauty as a reason for visiting, and the beaches in particular.
The second most popular reason was the history and heritage of the island, and the third most popular reason was the opportunity to ‘island hop’ with Guernsey’s proximity to Herm, Sark, Alderney and Jersey cited.
Results from the 2025 annual report show that the most popular activity (undertaken by 85% of all respondents last year) was eating and/or drinking out, followed by visiting sites of natural beauty (including beaches) at 72% and walking and/or running, undertaken by 62% of respondents.
A third of respondents said the most enjoyable aspect of their trip was the natural
environment, with many citing the scenery, the beaches, the peacefulness, the beautiful coastlines and pretty lanes as a highlight.
Just over a fifth said seeing friends and family was the most enjoyable aspect of their trip, while just under a fifth said the activities they did such as cycling, coastal walks, sea
swimming, running and visiting historic sites was the most fun for them.
Others cited dining out, the friendliness of the people they met, and attractions such as Hauteville House, Castle Cornet, the Little Chapel, the Underground Hospital, the Occupation Museum, and open air events such as the West Show, the Cobo balcony
concerts, and the Liberation Day 80th anniversary.
A fifth were left down by their travel to and from Guernsey though, saying that was the least enjoyable aspect of their trip, with respondents citing delays and cancellations of aeroplanes and ferries, poor communication from carriers, weather-related delays, uncomfortable plane and ferry journeys, poor experiences at Guernsey and origin airports, and a lack of direct travel links between Guernsey and their destination as negatives.
A few said poor weather, the cost of their trip, and the cost of travelling around the island, eating out, and accommodation were negatives too.
A tenth of visitors said road closures, diversions, the volume of traffic, lack of pavements/cycle lanes, and difficulty finding their way around detracted from their enjoyment.
The overall net promoter score for 2025 was 68 percentage points – compared with 55
percentage points in 2024 and 61 percentage points in 2023. An annual comparison with 2026 will be available early next year.
Spending
Guernsey wants visitors to come here, and keep coming back, while also telling other people to come here, because of the impact tourism can have on the economy.
The 2025 annual report shows 282,028 visitors came over throughout 2025, together contributing around £151m to the island’s economy – a £10m increase from 2024.
Speaking in February of this year, Deputy Lee Van Katwyk, Tourism Lead for the Committee for Economic Development, said this showed that Guernsey’s efforts to attract tourists was paying off.
“This latest data suggests our ongoing efforts to strengthen visitor links with neighbouring jurisdictions is continuing to bear fruit. 2025 was a key year for tourism in the island, largely thanks to increased ferry services via Brittany Ferries, more emphasis on marketing the island to our French neighbours, and greater collaboration across our local tourism industry.
“The Committee is continuing to build on this positive momentum with exciting initiatives such as the Big Eat Festival, an expansion of our cruise ship schedule, and the reintroduction of British Airways which will all help to make for another successful tourist season in 2026.”
The results of efforts to attract tourists during 2026 appear to be paying off with the NPS reaching its record high already this year. Time will tell about the rest of the year.
VisitGuernsey
‘VisitGuernsey’ is the official marketing agency for the ‘Islands of Guernsey’.
While officially representing Guernsey it also promotes inter island travel within the Bailiwick, working with VisitAlderney and Sark Tourism.
VisitGuernsey monitors visitor accommodation in Guernsey and promotes on-island activities and events and shares information about local history, dining options, and more.
In its most recent trade update, VisitGuernsey highlighted its work on a joint advertising campaign with Aurigny, and the launch of a new advertising campaign in central London.
VisitGuernsey is working with Heathrow and British Airways to promote the new airline, and worked with Brittany Ferries at a recent Visitor Information event in St Malo.
All of these initiatives are fairly recent so probably didn’t influence anyone to visit during the early winter months of 2026, but they will hopefully encourage more to visit in the future.
Some of last year’s efforts may be paying off already though.
Influencers
Last year, the Bailiwick welcomed a host of online influencers, travel bloggers and digital creators, in a bid to get more eyes on the islands, and the tactic appeared to have been a success based on early data that was shared with us.
VisitGuernsey, which organised the trip, shed light on the influencers’ comings and goings, and their overall potential reach, telling us that more than 780 posts were made as a result of the travelling troupes visit to our shores.
These posts highlighted the islands’ hotels, scenic views and vistas, and the plethora of things to do whilst holidaying in the Bailiwick.
Combined across all 22 influencers’ platforms, they had reached more than 2.5 million viewers on their social media accounts by October.
Some niche influencers and travel reporters were welcomed on specific trips, including to eat at destination restaurants such as Vraic, with VisitGuernsey saying this will put the island on the map for travellers with fine tastes and wallets to match.
TikTok
With influencing being an activity of choice for some travellers, Guernsey could be reaping the benefits of those who visit the island and then post about it.
One TikToker shared his fascination with Guernsey history last October, amassing tens of thousands of views.
At the time, a spokesperson for Visit Guernsey said: “It’s always fantastic to see visitors fall in love with our island. Luke’s experience captures what so many people feel when they come here – our history, our people, and our incredible scenery make Guernsey a truly special place.”
Travel bloggers and influencers from Guernsey are also playing their part in promoting the island, with ‘The Infrequent Travellers’ among them.
63,000 people had viewed the above post in less than a week.
Feedback
While online influencers will likely sing the praises of a destination if they are being paid to promote it or are getting something in return, paying guests might be more honest if they’ve not had a good time.
Guernsey’s NPS hit its record high during the first three months of this year after 5,138 interviews were carried out at St Peter Port Harbour and Guernsey Airport.
With some respondents completing the survey on behalf of a group of people, these interviews represented a total party size of 8,650 passengers, which is 11% of the total number of passengers departing Guernsey during the first three months of 2026 (excluding those travelling within the islands of the Bailiwick and those departing by cruise ship or yacht).
Respondents can leave comments or feedback after providing their net promoter score if they wish, with 315 people choosing to do so between January and March this year.
The highest number of comments were from people who said they had a “great trip” to Guernsey and found it to be a “beautiful, peaceful, friendly and lovely place to visit” (33%).
8% of comments mentioned the “excellent selection of restaurants” in Guernsey and the quality of food being served.
8% of comments related to cost, specifically the cost of travel to the island and accommodation and taxis whilst in Guernsey.
7% of comments mention they are regular visitors to the island, with a number visiting several times each year.
6% of comments noted that attractions including Guernsey museums and Hauteville house, were closed during their visit, with some noting opening times for attractions had not been updated with correct information.
Maintaining the NPS
We’ll need to wait for the rest of this year’s quarterly statistics and the annual report to see if Guernsey can hold on to its highest ever NPS – or improve upon it further.
It’s not a given that it keeps going up, with 2024’s score being lower than it was in 2023.
The 2026 annual report should be out early in 2027, with this year’s quarterly reports expected in August, November, and February.
