MORE should be done to attract first-time visitors to the island. Guernsey Hotel and Tourism Association president Carl Symes believes taxpayers’ cash is being wasted on misdirected tourist marketing campaigns.
He says the island could save money by doing more joint initiatives with Jersey.
‘The real brand is the Channel Islands.
‘There is a place for doing niche marketing on a more individual basis, but lots of money is currently being wasted.
‘There are two islands, 20 miles apart and they are trying to attract the same visitors. We need to make the money work harder.’
VisitGuernsey and the Jersey Tourist Board have this year teamed up for the first time to launch a joint advertising campaign in the UK media.
‘I believe and I think our colleagues in Jersey believe that we need to do more joint marketing, because when you talk to people in the UK and they know you are from Guernsey, you still end up talking about Jersey,’ said Mr Symes.
VisitGuernsey’s 2003 annual visitor survey says that the ‘importance of the other islands as an integral part of the Guernsey ﾓproductﾔ has been confirmed by the high proportion of visitors who take at least a day trip to one or more of the other islands’.
It suggests using the other islands as part of Guernsey’s promotional package.
The survey also shows that the visitor economy is stable, but that the number of first-time visitors has fallen from about 50% in previous years to 31% in 2003.
‘Tourist numbers may be decreasing, but nothing like our competitors and especially Jersey, who have experienced a serious decline over the years.
‘We should think ourselves lucky that we’re maintaining the levels we’re at,’ said My Symes.
‘But I’m concerned that the percentage of first-time visitors has declined and I think that gives us challenges we must address fairly quickly.’
Mr Symes has called for a change to the island’s marketing strategy.
‘We have to modify our marketing to attract first-time visitors. Over many years we have been successful in converting first-time visitors into repeat visitors, but we have to have new people to convert into repeat visitors.
‘It is vital to have new people as it is important to attract new investment into any economy,’ he said.
Forty-four per cent of visitors said they came to Guernsey because they had been before; 78% of people staying in hotels last year said they were ‘very likely’ to recommend the island to friends; and 46% said they were ‘very likely’ to return.
Mr Symes said the latest report provided useful information, but he backed calls for a more encompassing survey.
VisitGuernsey chief executive Stuart Pinnell earlier this week confirmed that the board was looking at introducing a new registration scheme.
It will be similar to the one operating in Jersey, which obtains the details of every visitor to the island.
‘It would be good to have one but it requires a change in the law, so that has to go to the States.
‘The department will be preparing a proposal but I doubt it will be passed in time for 2005, but hopefully 2006,’ said Mr Pinnell.
Mr Symes said that Ghata had been backing such a scheme for a number of years and still thought it would provide better information more quickly.
‘This would make it much more clear where people come from, how they got here, how they find out about the island and why they come back,’ he said.
He said that a large number of European visitors came via London and so were currently classed as UK visitors.
‘It’s not the panacea that many think it would be, but it would be better than what we’ve got at the moment.’
Article posted on 19th August, 2004 - 12.00am
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