Sunny start for tourism with 2015 visitor numbers to date well up on last year

• January 2015 saw a 10% increase in visitors to Jersey on the previous year.
• The number of February arrivals was up by more than a quarter.
• Visit Jersey taking over from Jersey Tourism today.

THE Island’s tourism industry has enjoyed a strong start to the year and the number of staying visitors and advanced bookings is significantly up on 2014.

According to official statistics, 400 more tourists visited the Island this January than in January 2014, representing a ten per cent increase.

• 3,208 visitors- total number of tourists from the UK (602 more than January 2014)
• 506 – the total number of French tourists during the month
• 2.45 – the average number of nights stayed by visitors
• 49- the average age for adult visitors
• 34 – the percentage of first time visitors
• 85- the percentage of visitors travelling by air

And although February’s visitor figures have not yet been published, the number of arrivals for the month was up by more than a quarter, including an extra 700 people travelling to the Island by sea.

Meanwhile, a survey carried out by Jersey Tourism showed that hotels are expected to be four cent busier over Easter than they were last year.

Helped by good weather, last year Jersey celebrated its best summer season for six years, with more than a quarter of a million visitors coming to the Island in the peak months.

The positive start to this year comes as the sector enters a new era in the Island, with the States-backed organisation Visit Jersey taking over from Jersey Tourism today.

Speaking on the company’s penultimate day, Jennifer Ellenger, public relations executive at Jersey Tourism, said that the early success boded well for the main summer season ahead.

‘There’s a real buzz around the hotels at the moment, and having a four per cent increase on pre-booked stays for the whole of April is a really good sign,’ she said.

‘If you have a poor start to the year, it’s hard to get it back, but all the indicators are positive, following on from the end of last year, when we were 3.7 per cent up.’

Ms Ellenger said that the increase in arrivals in February could be explained by the greater number of French visitors being able to travel to the Island compared to last February, when Condor workers in France went on strike.

David Seymour, managing director of the Seymour Hotels Group, which includes the Merton Hotel, the Pomme d’Or and Greenhills, said that he was encouraged by this year’s bookings.

‘Generally speaking, there has been an uplift this year and at the moment we seem to be ahead of the game,’ he added.

‘We have a good January, February and March, including a couple of very strong weekends with the rugby fans coming over. At the moment the signs are very encouraging.’

John Vibert, marketing director at the Hotel de France, was similarly upbeat about the coming months.

He said: ‘We certainly have no complaints. Our bookings for February and March have been up on last year, and May to September is looking particularly good.’

• The creation of a new, independent organisation called Visit Jersey was recommended by the Tourism Shadow Board last March, after they produced a report about the best way forward for the industry.
• The tourism sector has seen visitor numbers decline almost every year since 1997, when 985,000 people visited the Island. By 2012 that number had fallen to 688,000, with similar figures in 2013.
• The board’s report said that the Island’s current tourism model had failed to halt the decline in visitor numbers and that a fresh start was needed.
• It found that there had been a breakdown’ in the relationship between the industry and Jersey Tourism, that poor and inconsistent communication with some parts of the industry had led to a lack of engagement and that there was no viable overall strategic tourism plan.
• But the board said that with drastic changes the Island could be attracting one million people each year.
• Prior to releasing their report, the board, interviewed more than 100 people and organisations to look at what was needed. It found that many members of the tourism sector wanted urgent change and had little confidence in Jersey Tourism’s ability to turn things around.
• The Tourism Shadow Board was chaired by former JT chairman John Henwood and members included Ports of Jersey chief executive Doug Bannister, managing director of La Mare Wine Estate Tim Crowley, Bosdet Foundation general manager Mike Graham, Economic Development chief officer Mike King, Seymour Group chief executive David Seymour and public relations consultant Sam Watts.
• Between 2014 and 2015, local ‘business fixer’ Kevin Keen was drafted in as interim chief executive of Visit Jersey. Mr Keen has now taken up a new role making the States more efficient with the aim of saving millions of pounds for the taxpayer.
• In January it was announced that staff at Jersey Tourism had been given the option of applying for jobs within Visit Jersey, or being redeployed within the civil service. Mr Henwood confirmed that the application process had been carried out by the States human resources department since October and November last year.
• Visit Jersey takes over from Jersey Tourism on Monday 30 March.