THE economic downturn is expected to affect local tourism.

At the start of the year, travel figures were up on 2007 but eased in August and September as the credit crunch began to take hold.

‘An overall rise in the quality of the accommodation on the island helped contribute to the first part of the season getting off to an excellent start with occupancy figures well ahead of the previous year,’ said Chris Elliott, director of marketing and tourism at Commerce and Employment.

‘In common with all holiday destinations, the figures began to level off in mid-summer as financial uncertainty and the economic slowdown began to bite, with a drop in August/September but a rally in October.

‘We won’t have the full year figures and analysis until the new year, but realistically we’re expecting that, with the economic downturn that’s taken place in the UK and Europe in the second half, we’ll probably be looking at a small percentage drop for the year as a whole.’

Mr Elliott predicted that with people thinking carefully about what they spend on, the island would be hit next year.