Official figures show that 258,588 tourists visited Jersey in the first eight months of the year – 8,560 more than last year, representing a 3.4 per cent increase.
The number of UK visitors – the Island’s largest market – rose by five per cent on last year to nearly 184,000.
However, the industry faired less well in the French, German and Guernsey markets, with decreases being recorded in all three.
And despite seeing overall visitor growth from January to July, in August, which traditionally is the industry’s strongest month, 2,500 fewer holidaymakers came to the Island than in 2014.
Adam Caerlewy-Smith, head of marketing at Visit Jersey, the company launched to promote the Island to tourists, said that the growth was due to a variety of factors, including strengthened air and sea links and the fact that the Island had received added exposure on prime-time television programmes including Countryfile, Coast, and Tony Robinson’s Walking Through History.
The industry was also helped by Jersey’s hosting of the NatWest Island Games in June, which led to hotels operating at capacity for the week of the competition and the Airport experiencing its busiest day for 14 years.
Mr Caerlewy-Smith said: ‘It’s great to see the number of staying leisure visitors up on last year.
‘We are especially pleased with the numbers coming from the UK, because that is by far our largest market.
‘I don’t think there is just one reason for the success.
‘We have developed better transport links, especially with more Easyjet flights, and the exposure from television programmes has also been a great help.
‘We have been fortunate to be able to use things like the recent storyline in Coronation Street involving one character moving to Jersey, enabling us to promote the Island on social media.’
He added: ‘August was good in terms of our UK market, but we were down in other markets.
‘I think the drop in the French and German visitors is partly due to the worsening exchange rate of the euro.
‘We weren’t helped by the poor weather in August, which resulted in fewer tourists deciding to come across from Guernsey at late notice.’
With Visit Jersey setting a target of attracting one million visitors to Jersey by 2030, Mr Caerlewy-Smith said that the signs were encouraging a period of prolonged growth.
‘As we are only six months old as an organisation, we have had a very positive start,’ he said.
‘It’s a great foundation for us, but we certainly won’t be resting on our laurels.
‘We are looking to create additional growth in the shoulder months and we will soon be bringing out our winter marketing campaign.
‘We very much hope to continue our success into 2016.’
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