This month, we welcomed trade partners from the UK, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Jersey, Alderney, Herm and Sark to the Islands of Guernsey Travel Trade Summit for a successful travel event.
More than 20 representatives from the UK and Europe and 50+ local partners joined us for a three-day event. The core business day focussed on one-to-one meeting in a speed dating format with pre-arranged appointments, and over 400 meetings were scheduled. We also offered seminars in the morning and afternoon focussing on core projects for us including 'The Big Eat', Guernsey’s latest food festival and 'Millenium 2027, European year of the Normans' a significant international heritage and cultural programme of which the Channel Islands are a key partner.
For our familiarisation day, guests had a choice of itineraries to discover Guernsey or explore Sark and both groups enjoyed a blended tour of history, food and the outdoors, everything from a horse and carriage ride to fizz and chips on the beach and WWII fortifications to Art Galleries.
There were quite a few firsts this year too, with the addition of new partners from France and the UK, a new local produce showcase featuring suppliers from the Islands and highlight seminars sharing data and insights on the latest product development and events.
One new partner was WebBeds, a global B2B travel marketplace that connects supply with demand, connecting hotels with travel buyers all around the world, who came for their first visit to the islands. Ross Parker, WebBeds regional head of contracting said,
‘This could be the start of something really good. It’s been a brilliant day. We’ve been able to open doors, meet and see people that we would never have met otherwise. We’ve never walked into a room and not known anyone – so this was quite a new experience.
People have been really engaging, it was fantastic. It was just nice to go back to old school face-to-face conversations, which are a dying breed now but so valuable. And because we’re so established, we don’t get much new product anymore. So to have introductory conversations, for us, has been very exciting. Everyone we spoke with seemed very keen, too. We look forward to coming back, to explore further and to get a feel for how things operate here. We want to work with the hotels, not just sign a contract and disappear.’
Liz Penn, Travel Counsellor also attended for the first time and said,
‘I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the amazing trip to Guernsey – I found it so useful and I’m looking forward to recommending your wonderful islands to literally everyone I speak to!’
Josephine Ferguson, VisitGuernsey Trade Relationships and Marketing Manager said,
‘We’re really pleased with the event. We’ve had guests attend that our team have met at similar travel events in the UK and Europe who liked what they were hearing about Guernsey and decided to come and see for themselves.
I’m so grateful for our partners for their continued support, it’s always great to see them face to face and show them the latest developments and investments in the islands, especially now, as it feels like there is so much news to share.’
We’re really grateful for all our partners for supporting the event, thank you to everyone involved in making it a great success:
Sark Tourism | Herm Island | Visit Alderney | The Duke Hotel | Island Coachways | Harvey’s Taxis | Guernsey Dairy | Le Tricoteur | Guernsey Woollens | Guernsey Seaweed | The OGH | Rocquette Cider Farm | La Grande Mare & Golf Performance Centre | Royal Golden Guernsey Goats | Little Big Brew Co | La Reunion | Randalls
