• NEWS
    • PODCASTS
    • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWS
    • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • EVENTS
    • EVENT PHOTOS
    • EVENT VIDEOS
    • THIRSTY THURSDAYS
    • CONFERENCES
    • NETWORKING
    • TRAINING & WORKSHOPS
  • JOBS
    • FOR JOB SEEKER
    • FOR EMPLOYER
  • COMMUNITY
    • SEARCH PEOPLE
      • Create a profile now
    • SEARCH COMPANIES
      • Create a profile now
  • EVERYTHING TD
    • About TD
    • What is Native Content?
    • Advertise with TD
    • Connect with Gary (CEO)
    • Connect with Chris (GM & Managing Editor)
    • Connect with Tory (Director of Sales)
    • Connect with Anthony (Sales -AU/NZ/SP)
    • Connect with Paul (BDM-Global)
    • Connect with Mintra (BDM-Thailand)
    • Connect with Devapriya (BDM-India & ME)
    • Connect with Carlos (BDM-USA/S.America)
    • Connect with Samie (BDM-USA)
  • SELF SERVICE
    • SEE ALL PACKAGES

Travel Daily Travel Daily - Informing, connecting and developing the world’s travel industry professionals.

  • MARKETS
    • Asia
      • China
      • Indonesia
      • Malaysia
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
        • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • India
    • Middle East
    • UK & Europe
    • USA
  • SECTORS
    • Air
    • Cruise
    • Hospitality
    • HR & Careers
    • Luxury Travel
    • MICE
    • Technology
    • Tourism
    • Travel Agents
  • FEATURES
    • Sponsored
    • Travel Guides
    • Interviews
    • Podcasts
    • Guest writers
    • Incentives
  • TRAVEL GUIDES
    • Ponant Yacht Cruises and Expeditions
    • South Australia Tourism Guide
    • The Residence by Etihad Airways
    • Encore Tickets (Chinese Guide)
    • Affordable Luxury in Thailand by Centara Hotels
    • Rising Above the Oridinary by Conrad Bangkok
    • The Best of Thailand
  • FREE TRAINING COURSES
    • Traveluni Online Courses
Travel Daily
InterviewsUKChannel Islands

Premier Holidays: Celebrating 40 years of travel to the Channel Islands

By Christian Tolentino On Jun 25, 2019
Share
Premier Airlines
Premier Airlines, circa 1979

As Premier Holidays celebrates the 40th anniversary of its Channel Islands portfolio, we speak with the group’s short-haul product manager Beverley Scarr. In this exclusive interview, she shares some interesting insights on how holidays to Jersey have changed over the past four decades, what trends are popular now compared to then, how Premier has developed its Channel Islands portfolio and Premier’s future plans for the destination.

TD: How much have holidays changed in the islands over the past four decades?

BS: We started operating holidays to Jersey in 1979, initially from Cambridge Airport. We formed our own airline – Premier Airlines — flying from Cambridge Airport; it was the first commercial airline to fly scheduled services between our base in Cambridge to the Channel Islands.

In the late seventies and eighties, Jersey was the place to go. It was a big holiday destination for groups as well as individuals, and sea travel was a very important mode of transport. Our Channel Islands’ holidays were sold as packages for seven or 14 nights’ duration on a half board basis, and would always be Saturday to Saturday because of fixed flight schedules.

“Everything was very old school”

Beverley Scarr, short-haul product manager, Premier Holidays
Beverley Scarr, short-haul product manager, Premier Holidays

Everything was very old school, with nightly entertainment, such as cabaret acts or comedians, put on at all the hotels. Unlike today, where clients want to explore and experience new countries and cultures, a holiday wasn’t about the destination, it was all about the holiday experience. Most of the accommodation in Jersey was based in its capital of St Helier; clients would rarely venture outside the town and they would spend each evening at their hotel. However, now clients like to explore all corners of the island. Hotels would also close from September to May as the season was limited to the summer months.

In those early days, hotel availability was a premium in Jersey partly due to the TV show ‘Bergerac’, which was set on the island and hugely popular. In the heyday, boats filled with people would arrive in Jersey on a Saturday, and finding beds for all these customers was incredibly challenging due to the big demand. It wasn’t unheard of us to go knocking on the doors of hoteliers asking if they had any rooms. It was definitely a sellers’ market!

Things started to change with the emergence of cheap Mediterranean holidays and cheap flights to the USA, which opened up the rest of the world to travellers. This impacted Jersey in a big way, resulting in quite a few hotel closures over the years. Hoteliers realised they had to be more flexible with the day of arrival for guests, so this coupled with more scheduled daily flights to the island, saw more people holidaying in Jersey for a short break – opening up the Channel Islands to people who had never previously considered the destination.

What trends are currently popular when it comes to travel/accommodation?

It’s common for clients to book a short break over two or three nights, rather than a seven-night holiday. Although the Channel Islands are still popular with the mature market, we’re seeing plenty of younger people attracted to the destination as they can easily visit over a weekend.

Since hotels introduced spa facilities and gourmet foodie experiences, lots of clients are wanting to head over to Jersey or Guernsey for a spa break or foodie getaway. We’ve been incorporating more gourmet experiences into our Channel Islands’ offers, from lunches at top restaurants to afternoon tea, to meet the customer demand.

“Island hopping is really big in Guernsey right now”

Island hopping is really big in Guernsey right now, something which has been on the increase over the past couple of years. Our Discovery Tours, where clients can visit several islands on one break, whether it’s staying on different islands or via a day trip, have been selling very well.

More boutique-type hotels have opened on both Jersey and Guernsey in recent years, particularly coastal and country properties, which means clients get a different experience of staying on the islands. The Bella Luce in Guernsey is a popular one due to its on-site gin distillery and our packages incorporating gin tasting workshops always come up trumps!

Now EasyJet has so many routes to the Channel Islands, clients have access to much cheaper fares and it’s certainly a more dynamic market place than it used to be.

Saint Aubin, Jersey, Channel Islands, UK
Saint Aubin, Jersey, Channel Islands, UK

What are your strategies in developing Premier’s portfolio in the islands?

We’ve still got excellent relationships with hotels on the islands and we continue to develop and grow these. Lots of the hotels are family-owned and we now deal with the sons and daughters who have taken over the reins after being passed down through the generations. The Channel Islands are still very much a face to face destination, so I regularly meet our hotel suppliers to nurture these relationships, and we have a dedicated office and staff in Jersey.

“The trade remains a critically important part of the mix”

Trying different marketing platforms is another strategy; when we first started selling the destination our brochure was the only marketing we did to promote it. However, now the brochure is a very small part of the overall marketing strategy, although the trade remains a critically important part of the mix.

Every year we organise fam trips to Jersey and Guernsey, as we believe it’s important to show agents the destination for themselves. Some agents still think of the traditional market for the Channel Islands, so it’s brilliant being able to change their perceptions and highlight how things have changed during an educational.

We held our very first ‘Jersey Experience’ educational in 1988, taking more than 130 agents to the destination and giving them a coach tour of the island and a shopping expedition in St Helier. We’ve developed our fam trip itineraries over the decades to now incorporate foodie experiences, visits to popular attractions and trending activities such as cycling.

What are Premier’s future plans for the destination?

We are working with hotel partners and the tourist boards to get on board with experiences in order to keep up with the current Instagram generation. As a result, we have introduced new and unique excursions and experiences into our brochures, from cycling and gin tasting to coasteering and paddleboarding.

Our 2020 brochure is being released in September and we are excited to add some new hotels into our portfolio. We are also encouraging agents to book the Channel Islands online with us, as it’s so easy and straightforward. We have doubled our agent incentive for online Channel Islands bookings, so all agents who make an online booking to Jersey and Guernsey between now and September will receive GBP 10 (USD 12) in high street shopping vouchers.

Channel IslandsPremier HolidaysBeverley ScarrPremier Airlines
Share
You might also like
Family & Group Travel

Premier Holidays launches flexible booking policy

Air

Premier Holidays and Emirates launch campaign to promote Sri Lanka

Interviews

Premier Holidays: Celebrating 40 years of travel to the Channel Islands

OTAs & Tour Operators

Women on top: Safeguarding the future of Premier Holidays

Prev Next

Comments are closed.

LATEST STORIES

  • Hong Kong to allow vaccinated travellers from Singapore as part of travel bubble

    Qatar unveils ambitious refurbishment project of historic dhow boats

    Abu Dhabi extends fee exemptions for hotels

    Flipkart acquires online travel tech company Cleartrip

  • India reinstates e-visa for 156 countries

    5 things to do in South Australia when borders reopen

    COVID-19 surge in Thailand casts shadow on tourism revival plans

    UAE and Saudi travellers focus on mental wellbeing in post-pandemic time

  • Croatia prioritises vaccination of tourism workers

    ATM 2021 reconfirms physical event

    5 reasons hotels should add AI to their staff now

    Vaccination will not guarantee we can start international travel

Vaccination Updates

Hong Kong to allow vaccinated travellers from Singapore as…

Croatia prioritises vaccination of tourism workers

Vaccination will not guarantee we can start international…

Will this be the new way of international travel?

Prev Next 1 of 38

Re-opening updates

India reinstates e-visa for 156 countries

COVID-19 surge in Thailand casts shadow on tourism revival…

Singapore opens up international travel with digital apps

Loganair welcomes re-opening of tourism to Scotland’s…

Prev Next 1 of 2
STAY UPDATED WITH THE LATEST TRAVEL NEWS, JOBS & EVENTS!
Join over 180,000 travel agents, professionals and executives subscribed to our daily newsletter.
You can unsubscribe at any time

Popular Posts

International travel in the UK could resume on May 17, says…

1 in 5 Singaporeans have short term travel plans

The city is back! Maiden Hotel Week London in May to revive…

Loganair welcomes re-opening of tourism to Scotland’s…

Prev Next 1 of 10
Search
Follow Us

Menu
  • News
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Community
  • Subscribe
About
  • About Travel Daily (TD)
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
© 2021 - Travel Daily. All Rights Reserved.
X
Travel Daily
GET THE LATEST TRAVEL INDUSTRY NEWS, JOBS AND EVENTS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX!
Join over 180,000 travel agents, professionals and executives subscribed to our daily newsletter.
You can unsubscribe at any time
Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up here to get the latest news, updates and special offers delivered directly to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe at any time
Close

Welcome, Login to your account.

Forget password?
No account? Sign Up
Sign in

Recover your password.

A password will be e-mailed to you.

LOG IN

Welcome back, Log in to your account.

Continue with Facebook
Continue with Google
Continue with Twitter
Continue with LinkedIn

OR
Log in using your email
Forgot password?
Not a member yet? SIGN UP FOR FREE
Sign in

Recover your password.

Sign in

SIGN UP FOR FREE

(New User)

Be part of our community of seasoned travel and hospitality industry professionals from all over the world.

Continue with Facebook
Continue with Google
Continue with Twitter
Continue with LinkedIn
I want to
Only letters and numbers are allowed
Please enter a valid email address
Must be between 6-8 characters
Must be the same with Password
Already have an account? LOG IN
  • LOGIN / SIGN UP
  • NEWS
    • MARKETS
      • Asia
        • China
        • Indonesia
        • Malaysia
        • Philippines
        • Singapore
          • Thailand
        • Vietnam
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
      • India
      • Middle East
      • UK & Europe
      • USA
    • SECTORS
      • Air
      • Cruise
      • Hospitality
      • HR & Careers
      • Luxury Travel
      • MICE
      • Technology
      • Tourism
      • Travel Agents
    • FEATURES
      • Sponsored
      • Travel Guides
      • Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Guest writers
  • EVENTS
    • Webinars
    • Thirsty Thursdays
    • Photos
    • Videos
    • Conferences
    • Networking
    • Training & Workshops
  • JOBS
    • For Job Seeker
      • Create a profile now
    • For Employer
      • Create a profile now
  • COMMUNITY
    • Search community profiles
    • Search Companies
  • TRAVEL GUIDES
    • Ponant Yacht Cruises and Expeditions
    • South Australia Tourism Guide
    • The Residence by Etihad Airways
    • Encore Tickets (Chinese Guide)
    • Affordable Luxury in Thailand by Centara Hotels
    • Rising Above the Oridinary by Conrad Bangkok
    • The Best of Thailand
  • FREE TRAINING COURSES
    • Traveluni Online Courses