Meet the women transforming the Isle of Man’s tourism scene

The energy in the room when I went to meet some of the lovely team members from Visit Isle of Man and the Welcome Centre was one of excitement – and low-key dread. Hannah, Yvette, Natasha, and Rachel were all positive, beaming rays of sunshine but very self-deprecating, which all of them called each other out on. One person would say something that put themselves and their skillset down, and the others would say ‘No, we’re not having that. You are a queen in the field of Manx tourism.’ Or words to that effect. Women supporting women. I loved it.

‘It’s our job to sell the Isle of Man basically.’ Yvette is Visit Isle of Man’s Destination First Manager and Development Executive, and just as lovely now as she was when we were at school together. There are two strands to the work the team does, selling the island as a desirable tourist location but also developing it so it’s the best it can be for locals too. Which in turn, benefits and attracts more visitors. It’s a holistically circular approach aiming to benefit everyone, which is the driving force of Destination First, but we’ll get to that soon.

‘I moved over to the island from Greater Manchester, my family visit regularly, and a number of them have relocated to the island in recent years.’ That’s Rachel, she’s from the Welcome Centre side of things. Impeccably dressed; the colour of her blazer matching her lipstick. Colour coordination I can only dream of aspiring to one day.

‘I think people compare the Isle of Man to the UK too much and take aspects of our way of life here for granted,’ Rachel tells me. As someone who has moved to the Isle of Man from the UK, I asked her about local attitudes towards the island as a tourist destination. ‘In the UK, they have a variety of indoor retail centres and children’s activity centres, but they can be very expensive. I believe we forget that most people in the UK can’t drive two minutes to the beach, and when they do, it’s often overcrowded.’

‘Also, if you go and spend a couple of weeks across, you’ll see a lot of issues that people think are bespoke to the Isle of Man are very common everywhere,’ Natasha chimes in. She’s Marketing Manager for Visit Isle of Man, and was also a Gef 30 Under 30 Collaboration Category Winner in 2024. Her passion for the Isle of Man is tangible. ‘Yes, we have travel disruption but that’s very much out of our control, and you get the same in the UK. A lot of travel and transport links are affected by the weather there too. But I think the scrutiny on-island can be heightened because we live in such a small community. It’s easy to think that these issues are solely Manx ones.’

Hannah – Visit Isle of Man’s Destination Development Manager, who’s been sat listening intently – says it’s not just the UK the island gets compared to.

‘Everyone always goes back to that classic picture that we see every year of Douglas Beach packed and covered in deck chairs. But that was the 60s and 70s. A time where people, especially in the north of England, would hop on a ferry and come to the Isle of Man for their main holiday. It’s a wonderful memory, but times and trends change. Tourism worldwide has changed from those times, and we need to adapt and focus on the positives and what we do have to offer, because the new visitors we get will be coming here for different reasons than they were 50 or 60 years ago. We need to cater to modern trends, and we want to be authentic with what we offer.’

‘Even though people could look back at that picture, they don’t use Douglas Beach anymore. You go down to Port Erin Beach in the summer, on a nice day, it is booming’, Rachel adds. It’s true. The Bay wall is famous on a sunny, summer day.

So, what are these new tourism trends Visit Isle of Man is leaning into to tackle the tired, old notion that ‘there’s nothing to do here’?

‘Eco-tourism is massive now, which is perfect for us because we can sell that authentically,’ Natasha tells me. ‘People aren’t wanting to go to places that are over-populated, and lots are becoming more conscious about travelling sustainably. People are recognising the need to slow down and connect with nature, digital detoxes are becoming more appealing and the Isle of Man caters perfectly for that.

‘Plus, a silver lining of Covid was our staycation offerings. I really think during lockdown residents had their eyes opened and were made much more aware of what we can actually do here,’ Yvette adds.

‘Our visitor satisfaction is high. In the annual survey that is conducted to passengers who are departing the island, 98% of visitors say the island has met or exceeded their expectations, which is brilliant.’

This is where the Destination First programme comes into play.

‘The primary focus is improving the service experience for residents,’ Yvette explains. ‘And within that, anything we do for residents will benefit the visitor as well.’

Visit Isle of Man’s aim with the initiative is to use it to look at the island as a whole and how they can build great communities and an environment locals can be proud of.

‘So, we’re looking at different things, even down to general maintenance around the island and working with the local community and commissioners to make improvements. The small things speak volumes. We’re going to have a Resident Sentiment Survey going out shortly which aims to give us the baseline data on how people feel about the infrastructure and maintenance on the island, and if we do that survey every year, it will hopefully reflect the improvements we’re making as well,’ Yvette tells me enthusiastically.

The programme also includes working with local organisations like UCM to help with courses in tourism and hospitality and how they can be utilised to benefit the community.

‘And!’ Natasha adds excitedly, ‘We’d really like to celebrate and promote local businesses too, because it’s people’s stories that help put the Isle of Man on the map, so if you have a cool or quirky story that we can help with, let us know. We want to hear all about the great things going on in the community!’

The main thing linking all these points by Rachel, Hannah, Yvette, and Natasha is an undoubtable love for the place they call home, and an admirable desire to make it the best it can be for locals and visitors alike because, as Dorothy says, there’s no place like home.

Three years in this role, worked at the Welcome Centre on and off for 13 years.

I love working with customers and meeting new people, being the first point of contact for visitors to the island and sharing our love and experiences of island life. We get a lot of job satisfaction because we have a positive impact on visitors holiday experience. The reason I applied for this specific role is because I knew we could make a lot of positive change.

The level of customer service we provide. All of our staff offer a different skill set, as a team we are able to collaborate our knowledge and experiences of the island and share it with our customers. I believe that every customer who uses our service is getting the best possible advice and experience.

I’m originally from Greater Manchester, and I absolutely love how safe and peaceful the island is. It’s amazing to be able to get where I need to go without any traffic, and driving over the mountain always makes me think, ‘Wow, this is right on our doorstep!’ In the UK, I would’ve had to drive for miles to experience views like we have. There’s so much to love about this place—honestly, everything. It truly feels like home.

Eight years.

It’s good to see the progression in the work we’ve done over the last eight years. Obviously, some things are still the same day to day, but it’s been good to get involved in different things over the years and see the new directions we’ve been moving in.

I enjoy the variety. No day is the same, and the different tasks you get to work on make it really varied and engaging.

Over the past few months, I’ve done more on the data reporting side of things, which was all brand new to me. It’s something I think Deborah [Heather, CEO of Visit Isle of Man] realised we needed more of, so that’s been a new challenge, but I’m learning a lot from it and looking forward to developing what we have in this area.

There’s always that one time you think ‘wow. I am really lucky to live here.’ I live in Ramsey, and that drive down off the mountain, with the view over the whole of the North, you almost take it for granted. And I love the fact that I’m two minutes away from family and the simple things in life. The whole way of life is lovely.

Seven years.

I originally worked within the motorsport space for a number of years, so was familiar with tourism during the TT period. I was looking for a new challenge and I love our island, so I was interested in exploring what I could do in this role.

I find the amount of people that you can talk to really interesting, be them locals or visitors. I love meeting new people, chatting to them and hearing about their own perspectives, experiences, and stories.

We’ve recently taken on a new Destination First work stream, which is focused on service delivery around the island, how we present ourselves, and focusing on our residents. Anything we do to improve the island for the residents will impact the visitors as well.

I was born on the island and I love how it still has the ability to make you go ‘wow, this is where I live.’ Sometimes the scenery just takes your breath away.

Nine years in the Department, seven of those in the Visit Agency.

The wider perception of the island can be a challenge. That some people, both locals and from off the island believe there’s nothing to do here. That it’s a ‘boring little island.’ I think it’s actually the complete opposite. For such a small island, there are so many different pillars of interests and businesses and stories that we can share. I’ve been in the job seven years, and I still don’t think we’ve touched on everything that we can still shout about, about this island.

The girls. We’ve got a great close-knit team that gets on really well. I think we’ve got a really great culture. And I just love the island. I knew when I was applying to go off to university that I didn’t really want to leave. There’s just something special about it. I thought a job that could help show other people how special and amazing it is here, that’s what I wanted. I can’t pick just one thing that I love about the island; I love so much of it.