Foreign nationals will need a passport to enter the Channel Islands from late 2025 (Image: Getty)
A French boss has blasted the looming introduction of Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) on the Channel Islands.
The Channel Islands, which sits just off the Normandy coast, is popular among both British and French tourists as a summer destination, with visitors flocking there for hiking trails and gorgeous beaches.
The ETAs, which will come into force after the summer rush next year, means that foreign nationals will need a to enter the Channel Islands.
Julien Bougon, managing director of Cherbourg Cruise Normandy, said the change would lead to a dramatic drop in day-trippers. The head of the Normandy-based tourism promoter called on the French government to work on a solution.
Currently, French day-trippers can visit Guernsey and Jersey using only identity cards in a scheme that is in place until the end of the 2025 summer season.
The introduction will deal a reputational blow to the Channel Islands as a tourist destination (Image: Getty)
It is thought that the ETA introduction would also see a hit of “somewhere around £4bn a year” to the UK and the Crown Dependencies, according to Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent.
Mr Bougon echoed this, warning that the introduction will deal a reputational blow to the Channel Islands, as French people do not typically view visiting the Channel Islands as going abroad.
He told the : “People come to Normandy and discover they can go to Guernsey for a day so they don’t plan that in advance. They will usually have their ID, they might have a passport at home but they won’t have it with them when travelling within France.
“People will have to plan their trip to Normandy and then consider if they will go to the Channel Islands before being in Normandy. It’s another kind of planning, another kind or promoting for the crossings, that will take time”
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Jersey’s external relations minister Deputy Ian Gorst said he was talking urgently with his counterparts in France and the UK amid fears over the potential drop in tourism in the years ahead.
Travel expert Simon Calder said the ETA scheme could have “very serious implications” for Jersey and Guernsey.
He said: “Even if you are just hopping over from Normandy to Jersey or Guernsey for a day trip, you are going to have to have your passport, you are going to have to pay £10 and register online in advance. It’s going to be desperate for the tourism industry of course, which has had a really tough few years.”
The Channel Islands is popular among both British and French tourists (Image: Getty)
He added: “Of course unfortunately reputationally it doesn’t do the Channel Islands any good either.”
The States of Guernsey said the ETA scheme was led by the UK to “enable more robust security checks” prior to people arriving in the UK from the EU with their passports.
They added that there would be “no impact” for people travelling from the Channel Islands to the UK.