A 2% increase in staying visitors in Guernsey in 2024 has been hailed as a positive step in the right direction for the island’s tourism sector by the Tourism Management Board.
This increase is estimated to have resulted in an additional £2-3million being brought into the local economy by these holidaymakers, compared to 2023.
In total, approximately £134 million was estimated to have been spent by 182,285 visitors who staying in the island after arriving by plane or ferry in 2024. The majority of the estimated overall £141million contributed to the economy by visitors last year comes from the expenditure of visitors that stay for at least one night. Approximately 41% of visiting families/groups/parties spent more than £1,500 on their trip (including travel and accommodation).
The report also shows that the average length of stay held at 4.9 nights, remaining marginally higher than pre-covid numbers.
Visiting yachts also saw an 11% increase, with a total of 19,318 people arriving in the island this way.
2024 was a challenging year for the cruise sector which saw a 55% drop (to 38,456) passengers landing in the island.
The Tourism Management Board (TMB) has put this drop down to particularly bad weather, resulting in an abnormal number of cancellations, on top of an already smaller number of bookings. The Board now wants the tourism sector to focus on the steps being taken to improve this for future years, however. For 2025, Guernsey has rejoined Cruise Europe to increase its exposure to Europe itineraries; changes at the harbour mean ships under 134 metres long can now berth alongside in St Peter Port, and a restructure of the Cruise Business development team will see them working more closely with the Tourism Management Board and Visit Guernsey to better market the island as a cruise destination.
This work is expected to continue to improve cruise ship numbers in future years, however in 2025, 62 ships are expected to visit with a maximum of 50,000 passengers.
Hannah Beacom, Chair of the Tourism Management Board, said: “The 2024 report shows that the year was one where we had strong successes in some areas, and weaker performance in other areas. While the cruise sector had a challenging year, it is important to remember that our overall visitor performance is now improving year on year. The number of staying visitors – the group which contribute by far the most to the economy – has continued to grow, and while that growth is only by 2%, it is still encouraging in a challenging global climate.
“I do not want to ignore the impact that the drop in cruise numbers will have had on some businesses that are reliant on those visitors though. This is an area we are working hard on, and I am confident that the steps we are taking will pay off and see growth in this area as well in the coming years. Alongside Visit Guernsey and the Cruise Steering Group, the intention is to ensure Guernsey is put back on the cruise map, and some of the changes starting this year will have a significant impact, such as the alongside berthing that will be starting for some ships at the harbour.”
