TOURISTS are being turned away because of a shortage of self-catering units. The 2003 VisitGuernsey annual visitor survey showed that during the peak summer months, nearly all the self-catering units are being used.

VisitGuernsey chief executive Stuart Pinnell believes that the island is missing a golden opportunity because of the lack of quality accommodation.

But self-catering association spokesman David Russell said that more units were in the pipeline to take advantage of the boom.

‘There is one area where we are doing ourselves a disservice,’ said Mr Pinnell.

‘We are turning away people who like to come with a family during the summer months but there is not enough self-catering accommodation of good quality on the island, so they have to go elsewhere.’

The report showed that the average self-catering occupancy rate between March and October last year was 75% compared with 69% in 2002, 71% in 2001 and 74% in 2000.

Last year, at either end of the summer season, unit occupancy was between 40% and 60% while in the peak months of July and August, it was 96% and 99% respectively.

Guernsey Hotel and Tourism Association president Carl Symes said that self-catering was particularly sensitive to seasonal variation but that there was a shortage of quality accommodation.

He believed market forces would solve the situation and that the number of units would increase soon because investors would see the financial success of the market and switch from serviced to self-catering.

‘People are dropping out of providing serviced accommodation so I believe that maybe there is not a reduction in the actual number of units provided because investors are converting from serviced to self-catering,’ said Mr Symes.

Mr Russell said that the sector was buoyant and currently, with 413 units of accommodation, represented 25% of the island’s bed stock.

He said that high demand for quality self-catering meant that the sector recorded the island’s highest occupancy rates during the summer.

The report showed that the average summer unit occupancy for the serviced sector was 69.5%.

‘During the past decade, self-catering providers have recognised the growing demand and have invested heavily in high-quality accommodation,’ said Mr Russell.

There are now 48 sites offering four or five-star accommodation.

Mr Russell said there were currently applications with the planning authorities for 60 new units.

‘This is proof that it is not all doom and gloom in the tourist industry.

‘Many hotels are investing and we welcome this investment in self-catering but it has to be in high-quality accommodation because the higher the quality, the higher the occupancy,’ he said.

He believed the industry had two big problems.

‘The main problem we have as a sector is that once categorised as self-catering, it seems almost impossible to have accommodation de-classified back to local or open market accommodation when people wish to retire from the industry. The deterrent to people coming into the industry is the potential for them to leave it again; we want more flexibility and relaxation of the rules.’

Mr Russell also believed that more should be done to attract Continental visitors. He said that between 20% and 25% of self-catering visitors were from Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

‘We are extremely pleased with the work that Stuart Pinnell has done since he took up his post. He is the first person who has a background in marketing tourism and he has also taken time to consult us. We welcome his efforts to publicise the island but we are concerned that VisitGuernsey is concentrating on the French rather than the lucrative German market.’

Just 0.5% of self-catering visitors were from France.

Mr Russell backed calls for a direct air link with Zurich.

He added that the local growth in self-catering was mirrored in the UK and said visitors were generally independent travellers with families looking for a two to three-week main holiday in good accommodation.

Mr Symes warned of another problem. ‘Self-catering in peak season continues to do very well but there is already pressure for some to be more flexible and take bookings of less than a week.’

Mr Russell said that self-caterers would not be willing to take short bookings because it was impractical due to turnover times and said that VisitGuernsey had to be careful not to concentrate too heavily on the short-break market because it was not the core self-catering group.