Rays of sunshine for tourism – visitor numbers up

Statistics released by Visit Jersey, which replaced Jersey Tourism earlier this year, show that 31,054 leisure visitors came to the Island in the first quarter of the year, representing an increase of more than 6,000 holidaymakers from January, February and March last year.

The figures also show that the number of tourists visiting Jersey in the first three months of the year were nearly 2,000 higher than the five-year average.

Keith Beecham, head of Visit Jersey, said that the signs were encouraging for the start of the summer season as the number of advance bookings were also up.

Read a recent JEP interview with Keith Beecham here

He added that strengthened air and sea links, as well as positive reviews on travel websites and a surge in the number of rugby fans have helped tourism figures.

Meanwhile, the industry enjoyed another boost when millions of viewers tuned in to watch a Channel Islands edition of BBC television programme Countryfile last month.

The hour-long show, which attracts an average of more than six million viewers each episode, featured a number of Jersey locations, including Durrell wildlife park and Plémont.

Before and after the airing of the show a stream of comments about the Channel Islands were posted on social media websites, including two tweets from BBC television and radio presenter Chris Evans.

Keith Beecham, head of Visit Jersey, said that he was pleased with the online response to Countryfile and with the industry’s performance so far this year.

‘Overall we have had an excellent start to the year,’ he said. ‘January, February and March are not our core months for visitors, so it is very encouraging that numbers have been up.

‘We think that the growth is down to a combination of factors rather than one single reason. UK visitors have come out of a very austere period and are now looking to enjoy their travel and leisure again.

‘We are enjoying some very positive reviews on websites such as TripAdvisor, and when people are having a great time others want to come and do the same.

‘We have also had a lot of rugby fans come over during the winter and spring, and sports tourism is something that we really want to market in the UK.’

Mr Beecham added that the number of forward bookings were looking positive and that with events such as the Island Games coming up, he was expecting a ‘very good summer’ to follow.

• 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 took over from Jersey Tourism on Monday 30 March.