The chief executive of Visit Isle of Man says the cost of ferry tickets is having a negative affect on the island’s tourism sector.
The follows on from severe criticism from the agriculture sector about the pricing structure of the Isle of Man Steam Packet.
Visit Isle of Man CEO, Deborah Heather says that the way passenger fares are structured is a ‘missed opportunity’ for tourism.
Deborah explained that the pricing strategy isn’t dynamic compared to how airlines or hotels operate, and that the IOMSPC doesn’t take into account the occupancy levels.
She gave the example of the ferry only being 20% full and the company continuing to sell remaining fares at a high rate instead of shifting the focus to a full occupancy by reducing the fare price.
She said that this contributes to ‘people making positive decisions’ to visit the Isle of Man.
The evening sailings, which are generally the sailings running at the least occupancy, are still only marginally cheaper than the busier daytime sailings.
She explained that this is another missed opportunity for the IOMSPC as if the fares were drastically reduced for these sailings it would encourage more visitors.
Tourism Creates Visitor Spend
The Visit IOM CEO explained how beneficial the visitor spend is for the Manx economy.
Last year reports showed that on average each visitor to the island spent £580 whilst here, whether that be on hospitality or local shops, it is money that ‘goes straight into the economy’.
Deborah suggests that the high ferry prices is reducing the monetary amount of visitor spend due to the cost of travel to the Isle of Man.
Leading back to the IOMSPC’s ethos that it has dynamic pricing, Deborah says: “It can’t be dynamic pricing if it doesn’t take into account how many people are on that boat.”
Competitive Passenger Fares
The IOMSPC has said it has competitive passenger fares, but Deborah says this is ‘less relevant’.
She explained that it’s less relevant as the ‘company is part of the government portfolio’, with Treasury being the sole shareholder of the IOMSPC.
She said that due to the Steam Packet being owned by government, it should create the opportunity to ‘win’ against other privately owned ferry companies.
“The reality is we have a social and economic need to get people here, and therefore its more important to us, and I think that has to be a bigger consideration”, Deborah said.
It’s All About Pricing
Tourism has featured heavily within the Isle of Man Governments ‘Our Island Plan’.
The Island Plan wants to ensure that the Isle of Man is a well-connected island ‘enabling travel to, from and around making it an attractive place to live, visit and do business in’.
In order to boost the tourism numbers to the hopes and wishes of the Isle of Man Government, Deborah says “it is all about pricing”.
She said that from her point of view, the IOMSPC’s five day pricing strategy ‘doesn’t make any sense’ in terms of biosphere, and it creates a block to businesses wanting to engage with the Island.
“The Steam Packet has no brand awareness in anywhere other than the Isle of Man”, Deborah said.
She says that the IOMSPC and the tourism sector would be ‘much stronger’ working collaboratively in terms of attracting visitors than the way it is set up at the moment.
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