Isle of Man travel costs real barrier to tourism growth, says MHK

The strategy was unanimously backed by Tynwald members

The cost of travel to the Isle of Man is a "real barrier" to plans to grow annual visitor numbers to 500,000, an MHK has said.

A new Visit Isle of Man strategy aims to see the sector contribute £520m to the economy annually by 2032.

But Michelle Haywood MHK said ways to tackle the issue of travel prices were "missing" from the document.

Enterprise Minister Alex Allinson said an increase in visitors would bring the cost of travel down in the long term.

In the strategy, the government agency acknowledged the cost of travel was a challenge to achieving the target, but outlined plans to develop package holidays.

The document also said increased capacity on the new Isle of Man Steam Packet Company ferry, which is due to come into operation 2023, and the opening of the new Liverpool ferry terminal would improve the island's travel links.

The Isle of Man government bought the Steam Packet Company in 2018

Dr Haywood said none of the actions addressed travel costs directly and introducing incentives like those in place for ferry travel to the Scottish isles could help to encourage more visitors.

Concerns were also raised about the price of air travel, and Chris Thomas MHK called for the government to agree a pricing policy with the island's state-owned ferry company to create cheaper travel options.

In response Dr Allinson told Tynwald work was ongoing to increase air links to the island following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the industry.

Having the chairman of the Steam Packet on the board of Visit Isle of Man would also give the agency the "ability to look at travel overall" and create package deals for holidaymakers, he said.

"If we can get more people travelling then the overall cost of travel goes down," he added.

The strategy was unanimously approved by Tynwald members on Tuesday.