Decline in day visitors to Guernsey 'disappointing'

The director of marketing and tourism at Guernsey States said the unit would prioritise improving the island's air routes

A fall in day visitor numbers to Guernsey during peak season has been called "disappointing" by Guernsey's Commerce and Employment Department.

Figures from its quarterly survey show that there were 6,840 fewer day visitors between July and September in 2015 than in those months in 2014.

Director of the marketing and tourism unit, Mike Hopkins, said: "It has been a challenging quarter for everyone."

However, the total number, which includes cruise passengers, rose 2%.

Mr Hopkins said tourism was "a competitive market" but that Guernsey was still on track to meet its forecast of 30% growth in visitor numbers by 2025.

He said: "No one's denying it will be a challenge, it will be tough, and we'll see some good quarters and we'll see some difficult quarters. That's normal within any competitive environment."

Hotelier Simon Vermeulen, of La Grande Mare hotel, said the decline had negatively affected the hotel industry.

He blamed "prohibitively expensive flights" as well as persistent problems with the island's new fast ferry service to Jersey and the UK.