THE wording of VisitGuernsey tells the whole story. VisitBritain chairman Sir Michael Lickiss was in the island as guest of honour at the launch of the unit that has replaced the former Tourist Board.

He said the new name made its intentions clear.

‘It’s easy to market a ﾓvisit somethingﾔ and that’s why we changed our name in Britain from an authority or a board to something that is more friendly,’ he said.

‘The label tells you exactly what’s in the tin.’

Sir Michael was born in Guernsey in 1934 and his family lived at Rocquettes Lane. He completed his first year’s schooling at Amherst Primary before the family was evacuated shortly before the German Occupation.

They never returned, starting a new life in England.

A chartered accountant by profession and a governor of the London School of Economics, he was knighted for his services to the profession in 1993.

He said adopting the name VisitGuernsey would not be enough on its own to attract people to the island.

‘You have to do your market research and understand where your visitors are coming from and what they do, and don’t, like doing,’ he said.

‘You must never assume that people from different countries want to do the same things.’

He said the customers were always king and if you did not know what they wanted, you did not know what to offer.

Sir Michael was speaking on the day that about 3,500 visitors disembarked from two of three liners anchored off St Peter Port.

‘If they have a good experience, they will tell people that they called in at Guernsey and found it a fascinating place.

‘But it’s no good if you don’t know just who is on those boats and it’s not just about numbers, but knowing who is in those numbers.’

As a result of its research, Guernsey might decide to target certain countries from which to attract its visitors.

VisitGuernsey was already tapping into VisitBritain, he said, and the closer the two worked together, the better it would be for the island.

‘We’re already including Guernsey in all our marketing activities when we are promoting England.’

VisitBritain has 250 people working in eight hubs across the world including New York, Hong Kong, Berlin and Stockholm.

‘Those people are all speaking the local languages and making people aware of what is available to them in Britain. VisitGuernsey can plug into that mechanism.’

Sir Michael said he was a little embarrassed that despite being Guernsey-born, he had never been to Castle Cornet before his latest visit.

‘I go around to many museums and Castle Cornet is superb.

‘It’s extremely impressive. I’d like to find a way of getting more people from these cruise liners to go there and learn about the island before they go shopping.’

Castle Cornet was very well done and he said he could talk with complete objectivity having just been there for the first time.

‘The thing about Guernsey is that it’s very attractive. If you want to go walking or cycling, then it’s a great place to spend a few days.’

Guernsey also has a great history and a relaxed environment, which was what people wanted nowadays.

‘People want somewhere where they can switch off and the ability to do that here is first-class.’