A MAJOR new tourist attraction is needed to boost the number of holidaymakers. The manager of one of the island’s top hotels has called for action and investment to prevent the continuing slide in visitors.
‘There is a need for new attractions because visitors are drying up,’ said Old Government House Hotel general manager Simon Courtenay-Warren.
‘We are seeing the disappearance of hotels but we are not seeing anything being done by government and, particularly, VisitGuernsey.
‘It is absolutely essential that Guernsey audits its facilities in relation to other UK destinations. We must have a better balance and wider range of options for tourists.
‘At the moment we have our traditional things that attract people but we still do not have basic amenities like a multiplex cinema, which people expect these days.
There is a problem, but I don’t see the government doing anything about it.’
Mr Courtenay-Warren was backing calls from Chandlers managing director Dave Clark for a new attraction.
The accountants this week published a survey that revealed 30% of hotels are now ‘increasingly dependent’ on revenue from guest tradesmen.
The report showed that a quarter of the visitor market was made up of business travellers and half of that number were construction workers.
Mr Clark believes the report indicates that the island needs a new event or attraction to encourage more holidaymakers to come to the island.
He said that Guernsey could benefit from more yachting or sailing regattas or possibly even something along the lines of Cornwall’s Eden Project.
Simon Russell, partner in Bruce Russell Gold and Silversmiths, believes that something needs to be done to boost the tourist number.
‘Fortunately we do not rely on tourists because the number is declining. Now there are more tourists in April coming on small breaks and the island needs to exploit that and another tourist attraction would not hurt,’ he said.
‘However, I do not know where the investment for a big project will come from, so perhaps it will have to be a States initiative. It will be difficult on a major scale to convince private or public investors of the benefits but they must look to the future and the long-term advantages.’
Peter de Sausmarez, chairman of the Association of Places of Particular Interest, has rejected the calls and believes that the island already has plenty of attractions but needs to market them better.
Article posted on 6th August, 2004 - 12.00am
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