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Liberation Day accommodation 'at maximum capacity'

Lisa Young
BBC News
BBC Jo Ferguson is wearing a green blouse and a turquoise lanyard. She has long dark hair and is smiling at the camera. She is standing in front of a giant screen which has a photos showing shrubs and grass. To her right is part of a banner.BBC
Jo Ferguson said accommodation providers in Guernsey were almost fully booked for Liberation Day

Visit Guernsey has said the island's accommodation providers are "pretty much fully booked" for Liberation Day 2025.

Marketing manager Jo Ferguson said the organisation's strategy was to extend the interest in the 80th Liberation Day across the month of May and through the year.

She said: "Liberation Day is pretty much fully booked so all accommodation is at maximum capacity."

Visit Guernsey shared its marketing strategy with about 50 tourism businesses at a workshop at Les Cotils on Thursday.

Emma Walton is wearing a pale pink polo-neck jumper and is smiling at the camera. She has her blonde hair tied back and is wearing glasses and holding a multi-coloured plastic folder. She is standing in a meeting room that has formal dining tables and chairs placed throughout. There is a large screen with a photo of an old type of aircraft flying over the island. Beneath the screen two men ate talking to each other.
Emma Walton said Island Coachways had designed a new route to celebrate the 80th Liberation Day

Ms Ferguson said there were three main focuses for the year - heritage, wellness and arts and culture.

She said the organisation would work collaboratively with tourism businesses "to create tailored packages that hit our main demographic" with those themes in mind.

Events planned for Liberation Day on 9 May will mark the 80th anniversary of the day German occupying forces left the island at the end of World War Two.

Emma Walton, operations manager of Island Coachways, attended the workshop and said Liberation Day's 80th anniversary had presented a business opportunity for the firm.

She said: "Our business has introduced a new tour this year, an '80 years since Liberation' tour.

"It is three-and-a-half hours and takes people around the island talking about people's experiences during the Occupation and going to some well-known landmarks from the Occupation."

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