Overarching strategy

We will continue to adapt to an ever-shifting landscape when it comes to the visitor market. As such, we continue to change and evolve our marketing strategy.

The Islands of Guernsey offers a simpler holiday experience that consumers are looking for, with a pattern of short bookings remaining strong – 59% booked their trip within three months of travel.

When it comes to marketing the Islands, our starting point will always be our air and sea links. The UK remains our primary market, with France and Jersey establishing themselves as secondary markets.

Our communications strategy is simple:

• Broaden our appeal for now and the future – with three core audiences, along with niche target markets

• To be true to the Guernsey way of life - we communicate what we do well with a focus on outdoor activities and lifestyle

• A more agile approach that works alongside consumer wants and needs

Our creative approach continues to feature real people in real settings. What you see is what you get. We are presenting Guernsey as a place where unique memories can be made, in unique settings and locations. We are using authenticity to make that connection.

VisitBritain data tells us that the majority of trips are being taken by couples, and then families / multi-generational groups who are looking to spend quality time together. Our own data is telling us, in the first part of 2023, 51% of those travelling to Guernsey were travelling as a couple, while 18% travelled alone and 21% in a family group.

A recent survey of 2,000 UK adults placed walking in the countryside, boat trips, visiting historic buildings amongst their top 5 things to do on holiday. A recent report by McKinsey found that four in five consumers believe wellness is important and 42% consider it a top priority – all of which we can offer. Exit survey data tells us most are visiting the Islands for the natural beauty and beaches, closely followed by our heritage and history.

Our media strategy helps consumers re-evaluate what they know about the Islands of Guernsey with more standout media placement. We reach our audience in a number of ways including digital, social and print media, targeted TV, radio, out of home (digital and print). We know the VisitGuernsey website remains a useful tool for those thinking about visiting the islands - 44% used the VisitGuernsey website to plan their trip (Source: States of Guernsey Visitor Survey, Q1 – Q3, 2023).

We will build on regional activity by working with carriers on new routes (including the launch of the new Paris air route beginning in March 2024) as well as existing routes where they have capacity and potential for growth.

We are playing to our strengths.  We are:

• quick and easy to get to

• safe and familiar

• unexpected

• a brilliant outdoor experience that delivers on outdoor wellness needs: walks and beaches to surfing, kayaking, paddle boarding, cycling, sailing and more

• a destination offering quality hospitality, with a concentration of quality restaurants, bars, beach cafes and visitor experiences

• offering an ever-broadening choice of hotels and accommodation options

• a unique heritage destination with a story to tell, and thousands of years of history to explore

• more than one island, we are an archipelago offering five unique islands to explore

Who is our audience?

Focusing on a more affluent audience, mainly 35 - 65+ couples. An audience that are less price conscious in a cost of living crisis.

Baby boomers

Our heartland visitor. Affluent and older, many are regular visitors to the Islands and they hold a special place in their hearts. They are looking for a safe and familiar environment that is close to home.
Interests: Food & Drink, Natural Beauty (Cliffs, Walking), Heritage.

Multi-generation & families

Families looking to reconnect. This group will be motivated by a broad variety of accommodation options in a safe environment with a host of family & friends activities catering for all ages.
Interests: Food & Drink, Beaches, Island Hopping

Millennials with no children

A new younger audience - looking for experiences together. Looking for escapism and Instagram moments.
Interests: Food & Drink, Activities, Beaches, Island Hopping, Wellness

Travel Trade Approach

2024 Cooperative Marketing

VisitGuernsey works collaboratively with trade & carrier partners in the UK and Europe on joint marketing campaigns to increase marketing capacity with a bookable call to action. These marketing campaigns enable us to spread the Islands of Guernsey message further with a consistent approach to brand and imagery.

Find out more about our joint campaigns here 2024 Joint Campaigns | Guernsey Trade Media

Trade Tools

Destination tools designed to help partners utilise our assets with ease from travel training videos to a social media tool kit are all available here.

Business Development & Partnerships

We are always working on expanding the Guernsey portfolio, with more sales platforms for our industry to benefit from. New this year, we are joining UKInbound which is the only trade association that represents the interests of the UK’s inbound tourism sector and ensure it is recognised as a leading economic and employment driver in the UK. To get in the forefront of travel agents minds in 2024 we are working with Travel Gossip, who have a huge reach to promote to travel agents.

Trade Events & Familiarisation Trips

VisitGuernsey will be attending the British Tourism and Travel Show which is group travel’s largest annual event in Britain & Ireland.

Premier Holidays will be hosting 2 trade roadshows in Norwich & Humberside to train travel agents on the Islands of Guernsey which VisitGuernsey along with a variety of local suppliers will be attending.

Familiarisation trips are available to new and returning trade to assist with their agent training and destination knowledge. These trips often result in increased sales. Three trips are currently planned in 2024.

Our PR Strategy

PR forms a key part of our Marketing Strategy and is primarily focused on two workstreams which help attract our target audience - predominantly more affluent 35-65+ couples - to the Islands.

Visiting Journalist Programme

The first is securing coverage in top national and international publications, both in print and online, using our Visiting Journalist Programme. Working closely with our three PR partners - agencies in London, Paris, and Guernsey - we design tailor-made itineraries for journalists and influencers that showcase the very best of the Islands. In 2023 we secured coverage in The Financial Times, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, and many more. All coverage is secured based on readership figures or unique monthly views, and we always target publications for which we know the readership matches our target audience. For 2024 we are planning a series of group and individual trips, split across a combination of journalists and influencers from our primary market, the UK, and our secondary market, France. Early invitations have been met with positive response, and publications will be confirmed in due course.

Press Releases and Media Alerts

The second thing we do is to secure off-island coverage through press releases distributed to mainstream media. These highlight exciting opportunities, headlines, and new product, that are picked up by various media including The Telegraph, BBC Travel, The Times, The Guardian, MSN, Daily Mail, Luxury Lifestyle Magazines and more. Click here to view the Press Releases put out in 2024 so far.

Using both the Visiting Journalist Programme and our Press Releases outlet, our key focuses for 2024 are:

• The 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, including our links with Liberation Group Europe. Focusing on putting Guernsey on the radar to both the UK and French audiences, and those travelling to Normandy from further afield
• Heritage / History, ahead of the 80^th anniversary of Liberation Day (2025).
• Wellness – continuing to pitch ourselves as a wellness destination, to a younger demographic.
• Food – sustainability/provenance, putting local food in front of visitors wherever possible and using it as a hook to attract visitors.
• Cultural links – building on the awareness-raising from Renoir, maintaining our profile as a cultural destination, working collaboratively with Art for Guernsey and Guernsey Museums
• Working with carriers to support new routes in both UK and further afield.

Read more in detail in the 2024 VG Marketing Strategy Presentation