February 2025 Trade Update

As preparations for this year’s 80th anniversary of the Islands’ Liberation continue, we are sharing a suite of creative assets and copy that you can download and use for free, to help promote the events and activities taking place on and around Friday 9 May, along with those that extend throughout the year.  

We would encourage you to share the artwork with your visitors via direct communication, emailers and your social media channels. We have also drafted some generic copy about the Occupation / Liberation – one with more background which would be more suited to an off-Island audience.  

If you are organising a new event or activity this year that centres around our Occupation/Liberation story, please send the details to jo.ferguson@gov.gg and we can include it in the promotion we are doing via our marketing campaigns, PR outreach and direct consumer communications.  

Find out more and download the assets here. 

January marketing update

Our new creative, shot last year and fresh for 2025, is performing well across a variety of channels. Focused on a combination of themes including solo travel and active holidays - both identified as strong emerging travel trends - our campaigns are gaining traction, evidenced by an increase in visitors to the VisitGuernsey website when compared to the same period last year.  

For the year to date, website sessions are up year-on-year by 18.69%, and partner referrals are up 21.34%, meaning users are actively clicking through to your pages and offers more frequently. We have also seen an increase in the number of people clicking our adverts on Meta (Facebook and Instagram), as well as Google Search, Display, and YouTube. Evidence that the market is connecting with our new creative direction.   

In terms of print, in January alone our circulation was 1,924,365, appearing in copies of some of the UK’s top publications, including the Telegraph, the Guardian, GQ, the Observer, and the Radio Times.   

What's new for Cruise Guernsey?

Currently there are 62 ships booked to visit the Islands this year, equating to almost 50,000 passengers. We are working closely with the Ports team to maintain an open and positive dialogue with existing ships and engage with new operators. 

For 2025, Guernsey has rejoined Cruise Europe to increase its exposure to Europe itineraries.  

Changes at the harbour mean ships under 134 metres long can now berth alongside in St Peter Port for easy passenger disembarkation, removing the need for tenders, a new and exciting development in what we are able to offer.  

The Cruise Business development team will see the Tourism Management Board, Guernsey Ports and VisitGuernsey working more closely to better market the island as a cruise destination. Representatives from the team will also be joining Seatrade, Cruise Britain, Cruise Europe and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) at trade events this season. 

Bonjour Brittany Ferries

Following the announcement at the end of last year that Brittany Ferries would be the Island’s new ferry operator, and with the introduction of their new schedule, we launched a reactive Meta campaign targeting the Brittany and Normandy regions.  

Our adverts, which were pushed out across Facebook and Instagram, were seen 1.6 million times, resulting in 40,268 clicks through to the VisitGuernsey website. 13% of all visitors to the VG website in December 2024 came from France, compared to 3% in December the previous year. 

We continue to work closely with Brittany Ferries on a number of exciting initiatives and opportunities, most recently agreeing co-funded campaigns for both the UK and France. Concurrently Brittany Ferries have been introducing the Islands of Guernsey to their audience, which includes an email database of more than half a million. 

ITB 2025

In December 2024 we made the short trip across the water to meet our Visit Jersey colleagues, largely to discuss how both organisations could work more collaboratively, particularly in the European markets, who, as we know, view the Channel Islands as a multi-island holiday destination.   

The first step in our new collaborative approach is a joint stand at the ITB, under the guise of Visit Channel Islands. The world’s leading travel show, ITB runs from 4th – 6th March, and plays host to 5,600 exhibitors and 100,000 attendees.   

Representing VisitGuernsey will be Marketing Manager Sam Claxton, and German PR representative, Scott Crouch, who have been putting together a schedule of meetings with key stakeholders to promote the islands, with the aim of securing new tours, partners, and a direct flight. If you're going to be there and would like to schedule a meeting, email sam.claxton@gov.gg. 

The Product Development Workshop

We were delighted to see almost 50 trade partners attend the VisitGuernsey 2025 Product Development Workshop, held earlier this month. It was an opportunity to share the marketing focus and the core themes for 2025 and facilitate networking opportunities. The workshop is a great opportunity to take the time to really focus on 2025 and beyond and see how we can collectively work to develop and improve the visitor product and experience.  

Read more and view the presentation here:  

Product Development Workshop 2025 | Guernsey Trade Media 

2024 Guernsey Travel & Visitor Annual Report

The 2024 Guernsey Travel and Visitor annual report has now been published.  

Staying visitors, who contribute £134m* of the total £141m that the sector brings in to the local economy (95%), saw an increase year on year of 2%.  

2024 was a challenging year for the cruise sector, which saw a 55% drop (to 38,456) in passengers landing in the island, which affected our overall visitor numbers. An already reduced number of ships calling in was hit by a series of bad weather causing an abnormally high volume of cancellations.   

Average spend was up, with approximately 41% of visiting families/groups/parties spending more than £1,500 on their trip (including travel and accommodation). The report also shows that the average length of stay held at 4.9 nights, remaining marginally higher than pre-covid numbers.  

While recommendations from friends and family remains the key driver in terms of what influences the decision to visit, it is encouraging to see that more people are using the VisitGuernsey website to plan their trip (45%, an increase of 4% on 2023).  

Read the response from the Tourism Management Board here.    

*Spend figures based on 2019-20 Guernsey Visitor Spend Survey data.