The draw of the America’s Cup Village has left some businesses in Dockyard dealing with a drop in trade.

The influx of thousands of visitors to the West End for the sailing spectacle has benefited some establishments, but others told The Royal Gazette that local custom had fallen since the start of the event.

Andrew Dias, general manager of Wedco, maintained that renewed efforts were being made to let locals and tourists know that Dockyard was “open for business” as usual.

But he also acknowledged that the quango could have been “overly cautious” in restricting traffic flow into Dockyard during the event.

“The infrastructure has held up extremely well over the last two weeks since the America’s Cup started,” he said. “We have met all our sewage and water requirements, and the transportation system has stood up very well.

“We still want people to come to eat, drink and shop in Dockyard but perhaps we were overly cautious with transportation and some people have decided not to come to Dockyard.

“It’s not a total shock; this is a huge, one-off event, so it’s not surprising visitors and locals are being drawn to the village, but we will keep working to get the visitors and locals visiting the stores and the restaurants in Dockyard.”

Business owners in Dockyard told The Royal Gazette they hoped the slow start to the America’s Cup period they had experienced would pick up in the coming days.

But they admitted the significant boost they had hoped for had not materialised as many visitors and cruise ship passengers went straight to the village instead of shops and restaurants in Dockyard.

Lisa-Anne Rego, who runs a gallery in the Clocktower Mall, insisted stores in the mall remained fully supportive of the event and there was still time “to get it right”.

“We are not seeing the passing traffic that we anticipated,” she said. “We tried opening later in the evenings but that did not really have an impact on the number of people coming to Dockyard.

“I would like to see there be an announcement at the end of the day in the village telling people Dockyard is very much open for businesses. We need to raise awareness that we still want people to visit Dockyard.

“I am in a slightly different position to some stores as I have a shop in the AC village and have seen people come to the gallery after visiting the village.”

Another business owner who asked not to be named added: “Compared to last year we have seen a decline; our business is down. The people from the cruise ships are being taken to the village and they go past us. Before the America’s Cup we were busy, but now we are quiet.”

Shelly Wilks, manager of Nannini Haagen Dazs, said her outlet had lost local clientele in the last few weeks.

“I think initially a lot of people thought they would not be able to get into Dockyard or needed passes so they did not come,” she said. “We still have the cruise passengers but we need the message out there that we are all still open for business. When the races get postponed because of the weather we seem to get more people down this way. We are all still very excited about the event and the buzz there is up here, but it has just not been as we expected.”

Meanwhile, Gregory Bluck, manager of Oleander Cycles in Dockyard, told The Royal Gazette: “Business has been up a little, but we really did not see that until a week before the America’s Cup started.

“It’s been pretty steady. We have the regular customers on the cruise ships, then those who are coming for the America’s Cup.”

Esther Rudolf, who runs the Dockyard Pastry Shop, added: “Before the America’s Cup we were super busy, but when it began we could feel a decrease in business as everyone headed up to the village.

“We are still busy now, but no more than last year. I hope it will get even busier, and am positive about the rest of the summer. There’s a great atmosphere up here at the moment.”