JEP Opinion: Focusing on ‘Product Jersey’

Over the years, slogans have come and gone against a background of declining visitor numbers, the loss of visitor beds and fierce competition from other destinations.

There are tens of thousands of people now with young families who came to Jersey as children and have happy memories of times here. There are their parents, now retired, for whom Jersey was a top holiday choice and, of course, there is a huge number of people who have not yet set foot in the Island.

When choosing a holiday, different people look of a vast array of different draws: they might want to shop, relax or participate in water, adventure or extreme sports, to walk, to come for great restaurants, beaches, history, culture, music, fishing and so much more. Jersey offers these things and a great deal on top – we just have to tell people about it.

For the past 18 months, Visit Jersey have harnessed the power and reach of social media as part of a new strategy to spread the word and to tell the many stories that sing about Jersey. And many Islanders have answered the call to become ambassadors for the Island, both online and in the flesh.

More than ever, we are getting the message out there to holidaymakers and the figures released today show some really encouraging progress.

Inspiring visitors from overseas to visit Jersey is one of the three broad aims of Visit Jersey. The other two are to encourage public investment in tourism and to advise government and the tourism industry.

This week, the JEP launched the Our Island: Keeping Jersey Special campaign in an attempt to start a constructive public debate about how Jersey looks and feels for both residents and visitors. We hope that it will help focus the minds of politicians, civil servants and consultants on the need to make sure the product, Jersey, delivers the very best experience and offers something different and memorable.

The Island has got so many aces up its sleeve, but, as with everything, there are things that could be better.

This week, the campaign has focused on some of the things which we could improve in our public spaces and tomorrow we will share some of the feedback we have have received from you, our readers.

In the coming weeks, we will look at ideas for keeping Jersey special.

Please join the debate.

Read more on the Visit Jersey story here:

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