A NEW partnership between two Channel Island businesses aims to in over thousands of new visitors for quality holidays. Local mail order vitamin and supplement retailer Healthspan announced yesterday its ‘seven-figure’ investment into Rockhopper airline, which operates seven routes between Guernsey, Alderney, Jersey, Bournemouth, Brighton and St Brieuc in France.

Healthspan has already bought three Channel Island hotels – La Favorita and the Fermain in Guernsey and the Seaview in Alderney – which are currently being fully renovated and should be open by April or May next year.

It has also bought a house between the Favorita and the Fermain and will landscape the valley between them with planners from Cornwall’s Eden Project.

Healthspan founder and managing director Derek Coates said that it could put the Channel Islands on the map in terms of tourism, especially with current global fears of terrorism and outbreaks such as Sars.

‘Great quality food and service, a safe, secure and natural environment – that is the Channel Islands.

‘We are the jewels in the British Crown,’ said Mr Coates.

Healthspan has more than two million customers who will all be sent a separate leisure brochure ‘extolling the beauty of the islands’, promoting the company’s hotels and also leisure activities which have yet to be revealed, said Mr Coates.

Visitors must stay for a minimum of one week and multi-island holidays will be promoted.

Rockhopper founder and chairman Noel Hayes said that it wanted to make the journey an enjoyable part of the holiday and ensure a personal service at the smaller regional airports that Rockhopper serves.

‘I’m really looking forward to working with Derek Coates and his team at Healthspan so we can bring more business, leisure and family travel to the islands,’ he said.

Healthspan also plans to buy or form partnerships with a number of other hotels.

Mr Coates hopes that the move will generate some 20,000 Rockhopper journeys in the first year, tripling in the following one.

The company is already seeking to buy another hotel in Alderney.

He said that airlines were notorious for being here today and gone tomorrow, but the investment showed that Rockhopper had its feet firmly grounded in the Channel Islands.

‘Rockhopper is not going away – it will be a major player in Channel Islands aviation.’

Healthspan will be investing further funds to buy a new, bigger, faster aircraft for UK routes, leaving the current fleet of two Trislanders and two Islanders for the inter-island routes.

Rockhopper will also benefit from the reach of Healthspan’s advertising. Its customer base is expected to increase to three million in 18 months’ time and consists of ‘ABC1′ customers – people with high disposable income and aged over 45.

‘Nobody – the Telegraph, Times, Independent, Observer and Guardian – has got the same number of ABC over-45 customers as us,’ said Mr Coates.

Mr Hayes said that he and Mr Coates shared similar philosophies on quality customer service and entrepreneurial spirit.

Mr Coates founded Healthspan in 1996 and sales and profits have grown every year. More than 25% growth was achieved in 2003 and this year has already seen similar growth.

Rockhopper started after Mr Hayes had trouble with the logistics of getting food to his supermarket in Alderney.

He secured his air operator certificate and in February 2002 he began his first passenger service between Bournemouth and Alderney which took 8,000 travellers in the first year. The airline is expecting to carry some 30,000 passengers this year and is awaiting approval from Guernsey’s States for a Guernsey to Alderney route. Alderney authorities have already agreed to it.

‘Alderney people want a choice – now we are just asking Guernsey to hopefully rubberstamp it,’ said Mr Hayes.

The approval of that route will complete the first stage of the airline’s network, which it then hopes to expand further.