Guernsey enjoyed a boom in visitors from France this summer, with a 94% increase on 2018.
According to the latest Visitor Exit Survey, a total of 15,838 French nationals visited the island in Q3, although bad weather caused a drop of 22% in cruise ship passengers compared to the same quarter in 2018.
The fall in cruise tourists, plus a 10% decline in visitors travelling on private yachts, means that this year to date, total visitor numbers are 1% lower than last year.
However, it was a good quarter for staying leisure visitors, which increased by 4%, translating to a rise of 2,586 visitors from 2018.
‘Quarter 3 is without doubt the most important quarter of the year, being the peak period for visitors to Guernsey. I am delighted to see continued healthy growth in the staying visitor market, which represents the greatest value to the Guernsey economy,’ said Deputy Joe Mooney, member of the Committee for Economic Development
‘It is also particularly encouraging to see nearly double-digit growth from the French visitor market. This follows increased marketing and PR initiatives implemented in France in the lead up to and following the re-opening of Victor Hugo’s Hauteville House earlier in the year.’
The impact of bad weather on Q3’s cruise figures was a disappointing way to close the season, said Mike Hopkins, Director of Marketing & Tourism.
‘Quarter 3 proved to be a challenging quarter for the cruise market. Of the 42 cruise ships scheduled to call in Guernsey during the three months ending in September, seven were cancelled due to poor weather conditions, representing almost 12,000 lost passengers. This is a particularly disappointing end to the cruise season, following the strong double-digit growth of +22% experienced during the previous quarter (April to June 2019),’ he said.
The Guernsey Travel Survey is based upon exit survey interviews undertaken at the airport and harbour, with a random sample of departing passengers. In Q3 2019, 8,599 visitors completed interviews, responding on behalf of their immediate travelling party. These interviews represented a total party size of 18,651 passengers.
