Mark can’t survive in the tourist trade – or quit it
Monday 11th July 2011, 2:30PM BST.
PLANNERS and tourism chiefs have abandoned common sense and are killing off self-catering, says one proprietor who has been letting his apartments on year-long leases.
But Commerce and Employment claims moves to stop Swallows Apartments owner Mark Hesse from using his facilities for residential accommodation were in the best interest of tourism.
The 73-year-old proprietor has been issued a challenge notice by the Environment Department demanding him to detail how his property at La Cloture, Vale, is used.
It followed suspicions that Mr Hesse (pictured) had changed the use of some of the apartments from tourist to residential accommodation.
Mr Hesse admitted he let out six of his 10 apartments on yearly contracts.
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It should be made law that every ten years throughout their career civil servants are forced to take a twelve month sabbatical and work in the real world
It may drum into them that the ‘rule book’which they hold up as their bible can often effect the tax paying population in very detrimental ways … especially when that rule book is years,if not decades,out of date
It’s not entirely their fault of course … rule books are formulated by their political masters … whose responsibility is to ensure that rules (laws) are regularly updated so that they are always in keeping with the current needs of the island
You have to wonder sometimes if some of the old duffers on these committees are well passed their sell by date!
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I dont thimk its the states killing off self catering its Mr Hesse using them for long term leases plus the prices that are charged.
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Guernsey is such a magical place and lots of people would return if the standards of accomodation matched up to modern 21st century expectations.
I am afraid that appealing to baby boomers is a short term vision for tourism. Holiday business owners need to be prepared to put their hands in their pockets and invest in their properties…people simply won’t pay extortionate rates for 1980′s style apartments and that is what is killing the tourist trade in Guernsey.
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where was c and employment when all the other hotels in the vale were closing down to make way for flats?
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Tourist trade what tourist trade I thought the states had done away with that a while back and put all its eggs in to one basket, The finance industry and with the price hikes many of the locals were forced to leave quicker than when the Germans were coming. It seems the Environment Department is trying to put people out of business and make them sell up. Maybe we should show these politicians and their henchmen who has the real power and begin with everyone refusing to pay tax.
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The holiday accommodation is graded by the Tourist Inspector and the price of the accommodation set by the owner/company. There needs to be some correlation between the two – price and grading to give some value to the customer.
Also, when accommodation such as Swallow Apartments which would need an awful lot of upgrading to bring it up to discerning tourists standards wants out why take the owner through the courts when there is a shortage of cheaper private local market accommodation.
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I can see why it is important for there to be available tourist accommodation but I also think if someone owns a property they should be able to ultimately decide what they do with it.
It seems Mr Hesse is letting demand for tourist accommodation dictate how many apartments he has available, what is wrong with that? The tourists still have somewhere to stay and he is not financially compromised.
If the tourism chiefs are expecting an increase in tourists and need more accommodation available for them communicating this to Mr Hesse would probably got a better result than a challenge notice.
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I agree entirely with the point made by smallisland. I’m a regular visitor to Guernsey and really struggle with the cost of self catering accomodation relative to the quality on offer. For a family of 4 it very easily outstrips the cost of going abroad. You can’t realy solely on the “magic” of Guernsey enticing people back year after year without meaningful improvements to the tourist offering.
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The States could get an independent consultant to come in and advise on the prospects for tourism in Guernsey. A set of constructive recommendations could really help tourism move forward. This is already being done for the Health Department so why not tourism?
There is SO much potential for tourism in Guernsey, the history, the natural beauty, the flora & fauna, the walking, the sport, the beaches, Herm, Sark & Alderney, restaurant, bars etc etc but the business model and ‘offer’ is completely wrong and at least 20 years out of date.
The world has moved on and Guernsey has to and needs to catch up….just think positive…you will reap what you sow! Don’t be scared of a bit of modernisation!
There is a new generation of people out there who would love to come to Guernsey, it just has to be financially possible for them to do so! Offer value for money and decent modern accomodation, they will come.
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Its all very well saying its his property he can do what he likes with it but if the only reason those apartments are there is because they were given permission to build tourist accommodation,which is a separate part of the planning laws then tourist accommodation they should be.
Otherwise you have someone getting round the planning laws by saying oh I’m building self-catering apartments, and then once they are built you could say tourist’s didnt want them so I will sell them and make a nice profit!
If he has such a difficulty perhaps he should sell the business
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“The States could get an independent consultant to come in and advise on the prospects for tourism in Guernsey”
I thought the States invited independent consultants over to the island every week or so to advise on many subjects, from Airports and landfill issues to toilet paper colour choices for Frossard House.
Somethings broken here in Guernsey? Well best invite someone over from England who probably knows nothing about the island apart from what they see as they fly in at considerable cost to every tax payer to write a little report and maybe a presentation and then the States can just ignore every recomendation and actually do very little.
Same old same old. yawn
Guernsey is not longer the seaside attraction that visitors used to come to. It is a finiancial centre.
What actual tourist attractions are there over here?? Yes the beach’s are nice, the walks and cycle rides are nice. The bars and restaurants are overpriced, as is travel to sunny Guernsey. There is nothing for families to do, even Jersey have got there act together, lots to do over there by comparrison. No wonder the tourism industry is dead on its feet.
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Given the head of Tourism is a person under license and living in the UK does not that count as bringing in a consultant?
Say a place is rented out at £800 a month as accomodation (£9600 annually) and that same place is rented out at £700 a week self catering, it only has to be let for 14 weeks to break even, and look how many other weeks there are still available to get tourists in.
I think charges for self catering are way too high, even with these shocking high prices self catering is pretty booked up.
So combine sumemr bookings as self catering and winter bookings as winter lets then I would have thought it would be possible to get self catering units booked. Maybe people just have to be more realistic with the charges they command per week to let them versus the condition they can offer.
If you pay less you expect less and are more likely to book somewhere if it is more affordable for a family to have a holiday.
The website while we are at it could be spring cleaned.
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@ Really
Perhaps try employing someone in tourism who is in touch with modern business practice in the industry? That would be a good reason for employing people from off the island on a consultancy basis.
Why are some people so afraid and suspicious of ‘outside’ knowledge & experience? Why not work with these people and use it to the islands benefit? Negativity will get you absolutely no where. If you think that Guernsey has nothing to offer in terms of tourism it is a very sad thing…look for the opportunities, don’t just think about the money! You reap what you sow….if the seeds aren’t in Guernsey get them from somewhere else…other countries do this all the time!
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Really
We could advertise guided bicycle tours taking in the ‘we don’t do common sense’ edicts of the Environment Department
Day 1. Visit the Rouvets Road like for like replacement fence which protects the owner from a ten foot drop and which must be removed on pain of a large fine or imprisonment.See the huge new industrial unit in a former green field on the way
Day 2. Take in the old Cocq du Nord at Braye Road where a Pub Lunch sign situated within the car park boundary was deemed to be a danger to traffic
Day 3. Today we visit rural St Pierre-du-Bois where we can examine a fine example of craftmanship in the form of a new granite wall which has been deemed not in keeping with its surroundings.Notice the distinct lack of A-boards advertising small and not so small local businesses on our journey
Day 4. Back North to Bordeaux today along the underused cycle path skirting the sea front.Note the discoloured water and the abundance of bird life a few hundred yards out from the shore at low tide. As we reach Bordeaux car park with its excellent views of the other islands,do beware of the potholes but the purpose of our visit is to consider why the rather small and dated kiosk remains in situ despite the submission of a number of plans for a vast improvement of the facilities at this most popular of viewing areas
Day 5. A leisurely ride today over several parish boundaries taking in dilapidated vinery sites.Have your cameras at the ready to snap some of the tallest,widest,thickest examples of wild blackberry bushes and other assorted weeds in the northern hemisphere.See how the ivy has grown over many years to hold up the old crumbling brickwork chimneys.Imagine if you can the 1950′s when these vineries were a hive of activity and try to understand why Environment wish to retain these sites in aspic for the time when tomato growing returns in all its former glory. Ask your tour guide to point out the many examples of the modern glass buildings next to old Guernsey cottages as we traverse the island
Day 6. Join us today on another island wide tour to view the many tourist Hotels and Guest houses which have been transformed into flats and doss houses in recent times ,and others which have been ordered to remain within the Tourist trade.We may have time today to visit Saumarez Park,a traffic free zone which extends to small children on bicycles
Day 7. Our final day is dedicated to visiting a number of sites where enthusiastic vegetable growers and bee keepers have been refused permission to erect , or in a number of instances, retain existing sheds to store vital equipment to facilitate their most useful hobby
We do hope that you have found your visit to be an enjoyable and enlightening experience.If you decide to return please be aware that after fourteen years of deliberation it will soon be possible to bring your caravan to the island but be aware that by then it has been proposed that every country lane should be signposted with 20MPH limit signs
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Very good Ray!
Even people who work for Environment might raise a smile at your post!!
I know I did!
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@Ray
That was very funny – many a true word and all that.
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I second that kevin. Very good Ray.
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Ray
Best post I’ve read on here in a long long time!
Although I’m sad now, because it shows in a horrible light just what these people are doing to our island!
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@ RAY!
Run for deputy my friend…you speak with truth,clarity and most importantly practicality.
SPOT ON SIR!
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Editor
Please publish Ray’s brilliant post in the printed newspaper. It is well worthy of much wider readership not just for its humour but also to highlight the absurdities of Environment’s decisions.
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@ GM
I agree… let the voice of the people be heard! :-)
Ray for Deputy!
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Ray – fan bloney tastic!
Your above post surely must get printed in the paper.
Indeed AK. Ray for Deputy. Ray for Chief Minister!
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haha Good work Ray, never a truer word said,
I did actually take a cycle ride along bordeaux with my nippers at the weekend, they didnt understand why they were not allowed to ride on the common cause a few badly dressed old men were playing golf. Come to think of it, neither did I
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If Ray is ‘the voice of the island’ that is pretty depressing…have any of you left Guernsey recently?? Get real, stop moaning and do something about it if it is that bad!!
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Ray: Comical 10/10
@smallisland,
I couldn’t have put what you have said any better,
Bar about 5 hotels the rest look like there were last decorated early nineties,
For the rates that are charged here (on average £650 PW) I would sooner spend that money getting to america or asia.
The average apartment down the west coast is about £1000 pw!!!!
Its time these lads spent a bit of cash on remedial renovation works
I know responses are going to question why I come to guernsey if I dont like it, I stay with friends most of the time.
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Fellow posters and would be voters, be very careful what you wish for, it may come to pass.
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Ray
Very funny post, but I have just returned from holiday and for some unknown reason have never been more pleased to get back to good old Guernsey, although we had a lovely time, on holiday we had beautiful weather, much better than Guernsey had and we visited some lovely places, but there is no place like Guernsey, so Ray I suggest you take a holiday and maybe your cynic view of Guernsey will disappear.
It is a great place to live, so lets all enjoy what we have and stop being a load of old moaners.
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Having grown up in a hotel when the Guernsey Hotel Industry was still expanding, I have seen Tourism grow here and decline. Mainly due to the loss of those with business experience in the States and the arrival of the Finance Industry whichbrought higher wages and expenses with it, too many of the local businesses declined. The derelict growing properties being the most obvious many of which might have been kept going with the available E.C. subsidies.
The decline here in the North of the island came about mainly due to being priced out by ever increasing overheads, shorter leasing periods for fewer customers, expensive fares for shorter distances made worse by landing charges, the loss of Holiday Atmosphere caused by dearer prices reduction in tolerance, the breathalyzer, smoking bans, the loss of all weather entertainment and the closure of nearby hotels, bars, restuarants and shops. Eventually Swallow Apartments was the only establishment left in the Guernsey Guide around here, only to be forced out.
Many years ago the tourist Board gave us written permission to operate this business from purpose built apartment number 10.Of the remaining 9 apartments somewhere let locally for years. This enabled us to keep the 4 viable for leasing to visitors in the summer, while the others in the trade around here in the north closed down. The Tourist Board understood this and reduced the apartments visitor priviledged leasing permissions down to 6 and then down to 4 many years ago. The Parish authorities also adjusted the rates to 3 different relative charging rates accordingly. BEING ALLOWED TO LET ACCOMMODATION TO VISITORS IS SURELY A PRIVILEGE NOT A PUNISHMENT.
It has not been viable to let the 9 leasing apartments to visitors only for many years a round here.To keep going we have had to adjust to the economic law of supply and demand which dominates all other laws. THERE HAS NOT BEEN ANY MAJOR CHANGE OF USE HERE, we have not built or destroyed without permission, but continued to supply affordable furnished accommodation for a varied period of time to a variety of customers as for many years in the past.
Attempts to turn the economic clock back to all those years under the present difficult conditions by the ENVIRONMENTS official (on a guaranteed salary and pension tax payer funded), could end up in disaster for those at the recieving end. It would become a merciless misuse of dictatorial state power to destroy the lifes work of an individual to old to start again.
Should this matter have to be settled at HUMAN RIGHTS level, then this matter is likely to g outside the island for fair play, where people may find the islands housing laws in need of modernisation.
How can local market accommodation only be suitable for outsiders?
Imposing outdated laws that go directly against the natural law of economic survival will only force another business out of action.
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valeite
Can’t agree with you more about Guernsey being a special place to live … just that some people in authority seem bent on dragging us down to the UK level
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