New lease of life for Isle of Man

Aged pillars: Standing stones reflect a Celtic heritage. Picture / Bill Dale

As holiday jobs go, being a deckchair attendant in the Isle of Man during the 1970s took some beating. The final years of mass inbound tourism to the Victorian resort of Douglas had visitors from England's industrial north pouring ashore by the boat-load during the summer months for cheap beer, donkey-rides and slap-stick entertainment.

The town was also still attracting top British pop bands for weekly concerts - The Rolling Stones, Hot Chocolate, Slade and acts now long forgotten.

As a 16-year-old, it was heaven. By day I was a purveyor of canvas recliners and wind-breaks to mums and dads from Liverpool and Manchester. By night I spent my wages in amusement arcades, discos and the Palace Lido.

But it couldn't last. Cheap flights to Spain made the dodgy weather of the Irish Sea resort seem less attractive to the bucket-and-spade brigade.

In its heyday the Isle of Man drew 630,000 visitors a year. The figure is now 250,000. But while the numbers are down, their value is up, with golfers, motor sport enthusiasts and other niche, short-stay visitors the target market. Deckchairs and donkeys are no longer hired out on Douglas Promenade.

The island itself has also moved on, reinventing itself as an international finance centre. As a consequence, incomes and house prices have soared. With a top personal tax rate of 18 per cent, the island's economy is fizzing. National income has been growing by up to 16 per cent a year and the 67,000 residents have overtaken mainland Britain in per capita income.

This year corporate tax for most businesses will be cut to zero. It is an economic miracle driven by a tiny government whose members include a postie, tractor salesman and chimney sweep.

Another taxation tool the island manages without is the speed camera. Outside built-up areas there is no speed limit, which is a refreshingly mature point of difference.

But where does this new prosperity leave tourism, which was long the lifeblood of the island?

After trying to retain the traditional market with extensive advertising campaigns, financial assistance to enable boarding houses to be converted into modern hotels, and the construction of a multimillion-dollar indoor leisure centre (which was tragically destroyed by fire with the loss of nearly 50 lives in 1973), the Government accepted the inevitable.

Mass tourism couldn't be revived and the future lay with attracting a new type of visitor. Boarding houses have now made way for luxury apartments and the venue where Slade banged out All Crazee Now has become a car park.

But the cash with which the island is now awash has allowed the development of a number of top visitor attractions. There is an award-winning museum in Douglas, a new interactive museum at Peel that tells the story of the island's Viking heritage, and top sporting facilities that draw international tournaments.

The 98-year-old Tourist Trophy motorcycle races, held each June, still attract a huge crowd of hard-drinking bikers, including a good number of Kiwis.

Some of the modes of transport that catered for mass tourism in the good old days - an electric tram system, steam railway and horse-drawn trams have now become attractions in their own right.

There are also a couple of castles, fairies - yes, really - sheep with four horns, cats without tails and, seemingly, something odd around every corner. Not surprisingly, perhaps, a common surname on the island is Quirk.

Top of the attractions, though, is the island's beauty, a scaled-down version of the Lake District. On a fine morning, a ride on the Manx Electric Railway to the top of Snaefell mountain presents visitors with the awe-inspiring sight of landmarks in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Follow that with lunch in a friendly pub and it can be a magical day.

That many Britons now choose the sunshine and beaches of the Costa del Sol over the Isle of Man's history and scenic beauty is, perhaps, understandable. But the destination of choice of their forefathers still has a huge amount to offer - even without the deckchairs.