New tourism chief challenges hoteliers to find Island’s ‘story’

• Hoteliers encouraged to come forward with a ‘compelling story’ and a new target audience
• Chief executuve of Visit Jersey was guest speaker at Jersey Hospitality Association AGM
• Claimed that whereas VisitBritain had seen three per cent growth last year, Jersey’s tourism industry had remained static

THE newly-appointed ambassador for the Island’s tourism industry has challenged an audience of hoteliers, restaurateurs and tour operators to come forward with a ‘compelling story’ and a new target audience.

Keith Beecham, who took office 13 days ago as chief executive of Visit Jersey, has over 20 years’ experience at VisitBritain, most recently as interim chief executive.

Mr Beecham, who was guest speaker at the Jersey Hospitality Association’s AGM lunch on Friday, told over 150 industry representatives that whereas VisitBritain had seen three per cent growth last year, with global tourism up by four per cent, Jersey’s tourism industry had remained static.

• 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

In order to catch up, the Island needed to reach customers where they were – on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, building brand awareness across search engines and peer-to-peer sites for services from accommodation to taxis and restaurants, he said.

The target set by the Tourism Shadow Board of a million visitors by 2030 was ‘tough, but not impossible,’ he added.

But in order to meet that target, the industry had to focus on four areas – image, product, distribution and access.

‘The Isle of Wight is known for its festivals, Ibiza is known for its clubbing, the Isle of Man is known for the TT racing, Jersey is known for …? Who are our target customers?’ he asked, adding that a visitor survey last summer had shown that 60% of tourists from the UK were returners, with an average age of 55 or over.

Mr Beecham stressed that by brand development, he was not talking about redesigning a logo.

‘Most destinations attract a mix of visitors – we can prioritise which visitors we want to attract.’

A tourist board website that said ‘come to me’ was not fit for purpose, he said. ‘Visit Jersey needs to go where the customer is, to fish where they fish.’

During questions, hotelier Bill Dolan said that he found the changes to the website ‘difficult to grasp’ and another hotelier wanted to know how to capture information about the more traditional tourists, who made phone calls and wrote letters.

Malcolm Lewis, from Longueville Manor, asked whether the budget (proposed at £5.5m for this year) would be sufficient, and another questioner asked who Mr Beecham considered to be Jersey’s main competitors.

‘It depends on which customers we attract,’ said Mr Beecham. ‘If it is mainland UK, then probably Guernsey. Devon and Cornwall are also very strong competitors.’

Earlier, JHA president Ian Barnes told association members that although wholly supportive of Visit Jersey’s intent to ‘forge a new deal for tourism’, the industry continued to struggle under the States interim population policy.

‘The “recruit locally” process, which has seen immigrant job permits slashed to help locals and 1,200 licenses going, as well as many new applications being refused, is the main reason for the current staff and skills shortages,’ said Mr Barnes.

He added that although 2015 would be a busy year for event-led tourism, with a new literary festival, the Island Games and the Folklore Festival, more could be done to attract conference visitors.

• 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.