MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Land-based tourism worth £3.2 million a year to the Falkland Islands

A typical farm, Port Howard Settlement in the West Falklands

According to the Falkland Islands Tourist Board, overnight visitors spent an estimated £3.2 million in the Falkland Islands in 2008.

The money was spent right across the Falkland Islands economy in a range of sectors including accommodation, hospitality, retail and transport. Almost one half (47%) of the expenditure was on accommodation, with a further 21% spent on meals/drinks, 8% on shopping and 7% on tours/guides.

The tourist board’s findings are based on interviews conducted with 175 departing air passengers at MPA over the period December 2008 to March 2009.

“It was fantastic to find that over 93% of all the passengers we interviewed rated their stay here as being Excellent or Good” said Jake Downing, General Manager of the Falkland Islands Tourist Board“, “and it was also very encouraging to hear that 77% would like to visit the Falkland Islands again”.

According to Mr Downing, the interviews also enabled the tourist board to estimate that 55% of all visitor nights are spent in Stanley, with the balance in Camp.

The research showed that only 27% of visitor nights are spent in commercial accommodation (eg. hotels, self-catering accommodation, lodges and guesthouses), with the remainder staying in private homes, company houses, military barracks etc.

“It’s the holiday/leisure visitors who are most likely to stay in commercial accommodation”, said Mr Downing, “and consequently they spend considerably more per trip than other types of overnight visitor - £917 on average”. Over one half (51.5%) of overnight visitors can be classed as holiday/leisure tourists, ie those visiting purely for holiday purposes.

The tourist board is currently developing a marketing and PR plan to raise awareness of the Falkland Islands as a holiday destination in Europe and America. The plan will continue to build the cruise tourism market, but also aims to significantly boost the number of overnight tourists in the Falkland Islands.