The new strategy to promote the Isle of Man as a visitor destination has been launched at a special event for the Island’s tourism industry on the back of a rising trend in leisure visitors with a recorded 6.5% increase in 2015, the seventh consecutive annual increase.

130 representatives of the Isle of Man’s tourism sector were in attendance for the launch of the Destination Management Plan 2016-2020 (DMP) and to hear how the sector had performed in 2015.

David Cretney MLC, the Department Member with responsibility for Tourism, said:

‘It gives me great satisfaction to see the rise in leisure visitors that we have enjoyed over the past three years. A rising trend in leisure visitors reflects the concerted efforts of the Department’s tourism and marketing teams and our local industry to deliver a better targeted and more efficient marketing strategy.

‘However, we must also acknowledge the challenging conditions we face such as the declining trend in Visiting Friend and Relatives and Business Visitor markets. The new Destination Management Plan 2016-2020 aims to address these challenges and will drive promotion of the Isle of Man as a place to live and work, as well as a place to come on holiday.’

Robin Bischert, Director for the Visitor Economy, Department of Economic Development said:

‘We received some very positive feedback about the new strategy at the event which is encouraging. We value the close relationships and regular dialogue we enjoy with the industry so we wanted to give them the opportunity to hear first-hand about the plans to develop the sector up to 2020.

‘The strategy is linked to ‘Destination Island’, which forms part of the Government’s Vision2020 economic plan. It recognises the importance of the tourism sector to the whole Isle of Man economy in that it also drives the quality of life offering for residents and is a significant source of local jobs.

‘The plan has been developed in conjunction with the public/private Visitor Economy Strategic Group and is founded on a thorough analysis of tourism trends and our current offering. We feel that the plan contains a very bold set of aims and objectives, which we can only achieve by working together with industry.

‘In addition to the direct economic benefits of successful delivery, the DMP also aims to increase job opportunities for local residents and further development of facilities, infrastructure, services and events for both visitors and residents to enjoy.’

The Destination Management Plan is available to download at www.visitisleofman.com/trade/resourcelibrary/strategies.xml.