The Saturday Interview
Chief executive of Visit Jersey Tricia Warwick tells Kelly Frost about the new marketing campaign for the Island, which aims to appeal to different demographics
Tricia Warwick has most certainly missed the memo, which seems to be circulating more and more these days, that tourism in Jersey is on its way out.
For some Islanders, it is not only on its way out, but it has left the building, hopped overseas and taken up residence somewhere like Greece or Ibiza.
Ms Warwick, in her role as chief executive of Visit Jersey, has done quite the opposite to those who have resigned themselves to this dreary, self-imposed fate where tourism should be dialled down to make way for other industries.
Rather, after what she described as a successful few years of the “Curiously Brit…(ish)” campaign, she is expanding Visit Jersey’s ambitions and horizons, widening the Island’s appeal, aiming for even more demographics and new visitors, with a new campaign: “Where Sea Meets Soul”.
Challenging the outdated perception of Jersey, it has a fresh look and feel, showcasing jaw-dropping aerial images to attract a younger demographic – and an international audience.
Before taking up her role at Visit Jersey nearly a year ago, Ms Warwick spent 22 years based in Dubai working for Visit Britain and hotel groups to market destinations, airlines and stays on a global scale.
She knows what it requires to appeal to more nations and broader audiences.
When she arrived in Jersey, the “Curiously Brit…(ish)” campaign was in full swing after being launched in the throes of the pandemic – undoubtedly a challenging time for the tourism industry.
“That campaign was perfect at the time,” she explained. “We were in that common travel area for Covid when you couldn’t travel many places, particularly from the UK – but you could come to Jersey.
“To pitch ourselves into the British market with ‘Curiously Brit…(ish)’ felt close to home when people didn’t want to travel too far. It was easy to get to, it resonated and definitely worked really well.
“The metrics did the talking and we saw an upswing in visitors, especially with people who would have never considered Jersey. But because they were so limited in where they could travel, Jersey went on the list.
“To get a lot of first-timers is exciting, because the minute someone comes here, we know they will come back.”
Ms Warwick referred to our above-average “net promoter score”, which means that departing passengers are very likely to return and to recommend a visit to others.
While the “Curiously Brit…(ish)” campaign was successful “for that period of time”, Ms Warwick continued, 2024 requires a refresh.
“Where Sea Meets Soul” turns a new leaf.
Ms Warwick said: “Looking forward, we’re not only talking to the British market with this campaign, we’re talking to France and Germany as well, which is a bit of a first.
“In fact, we’re spending a bit more than we’ve ever done before in France and Germany.
“We’ve translated the upcoming campaign into French and German, and we’re trying some new mediums and channels for the campaign so that we get the most return for our investment.”
So, why “sea” and why “soul”?
Ms Warwick explained: “Soul talks to the people, the land, the heart of the Island. And we are an island surrounded by the sea, but we also have this amazing tidal range where our Island virtually doubles in size when the spring tides come into play.
“It’s that concentration of what you can see and do in Jersey in such a small place, where you have that juxtaposition between the sea, the Island, the land, and the people. It’s all so symbiotic, so closely interconnected.
“And that’s something we can own and it’s a bit different. It’s not what everywhere can offer you. That’s what made us get excited about this strapline because it really does start to make you look at Jersey in a different light.”
She added that it’s “flexible” and talks to different audiences – including the sport audience and the wellbeing audience, who may come for features like our cliff and beach walks, spa experiences and even Jersey’s new Sauna Society, which has recently opened several mobile saunas around the Island.
“Soul is what it means to you,” she said. “That’s the important thing about any advertising: what is the first thing that you’re going to take from it when you see it?
“Particularly in the speed that we look at mediums today, when people are flashing through stuff very quickly, you’ve got to land it very fast. ‘Where Sea Meets Soul’ conjures up questions: what does that mean? And what does it mean to me?”
That broadness, she added, includes a slightly younger generation.
She said: “Traditionally, we’ve got an older demographic that has loved coming to Jersey for a long time and continues to visit.
“Whatever age you are, you have a reason to travel. You may prefer spas, you may prefer food, you may prefer history and heritage, the great outdoors, whatever takes your fancy, and we want to appeal to the mindset of a person as to why they might like to travel.
“They will tend to come from that older demographic, but we believe that Jersey is appealing to a younger demographic as well.
“By tapping into what they like to do, and reasons to travel, we believe we’ll start to attract a younger audience who will be first timers to Jersey. And, hopefully, repeaters in the future, too.”
Ms Warwick is aware that young people could potentially be sensitive to cost-of-living pressures – and could be convinced to travel to places where they might get more bang for your buck.
Travel Weekly UK’s latest survey, she said, looked at how people would react to the cost of living.
“The last thing to go is the holiday,” she said. “That’s a good start. But then you’ve got to make sure that you’re on the list, because maybe it was two holidays and now it’s one, maybe it was three and now it’s two.
“People’s decision-making is changing, and they’re looking for the best options, so we need to be on that considerationlist.
“That’s where we’ve got to work hard to get the message out there about Jersey as a destination that’s appealing to people, because our brand awareness is quite low.
“A lot of people in the UK don’t know where Jersey is, and a part of our campaign is to dial up that proximity to the UK, and to France and Germany.”
Some methods being used to increase that brand awareness include showing in the advertising a map indicator of where Jersey is and how close it is to the UK, France, Europe – and, excitingly, cinema: “For the first time we’re going to use cinema up and down the UK, which will be fun. At the end of the 30 seconds of beautiful, dreamy shots of Jersey and ‘Where Sea Meets Soul’, audiences will see ‘Plan Your Adventure at Jersey.com’.
“We’ll be able to see the traffic that comes from that, because we will know when our adverts were in cinemas and so on.”
Ms Warwick has spoken at length about the power of putting Jersey on screen in film and television – or “set-jetting” as some have termed the burgeoning trend.
A recent showcasing of Jersey in The Apprentice caused a 215% spike in visitors to Visit Jersey’s website and resulted in over 4,000 referrals to local tourism and hospitality businesses. And those numbers were expected to climb in the days following the episode.
While the temptation is there to reach even further than the UK, France and Germany, Ms Warwick continued, “focus is really important. The challenge we have is that your budget only goes so far, and the further you spread something, the weaker and more diluted it becomes.”
Nevertheless, it is “opportunistic to look at new markets as they come along”.
“For example, recently with the Lunar New Year, we have done some work on that. We’re now talking about how we could generate more business for next Chinese New Year.”
She added that while there was the assumption that the Paris Olympics could offer a “massive pool” of visitors for Jersey to dip into, there are no plans to directly cater to that audience.
“It’s a particular type of tourist that goes to big sporting events, and we’d need to be a bit nearer to attract people off the back of the Olympics.
“It is better to target events like France’s 80th anniversary celebrations of the D-Day landings, taking place in June.
“But connectivity is king. If you could say come to the Olympics and within an hour, you can be sitting in Jersey, that’s a message. Without that connectivity, and that direct flight at the moment, we’re a bit down the suggestion list for people.
“What’s important for us is to have a good calendar of events.
“Most people would agree that in the summer months, there’s a lot going on here and there’s enough to keep everybody busy, but in the spring and the autumn season less so for the international visitors.
“It’s on us as an island to come up with those reasons why you should get on the plane and come to Jersey in spring and autumn, whether that could be around sport, wellbeing, food, culture, history, heritage, concerts, events.
“I’m looking forward to the Opera House opening [later this year], and we’re talking to them at the moment as they are starting to put that programme together.
“When we start to know what that looks like, we can promote that.”
The goal of “Where Sea Means Soul” is to show a different side of Jersey, both to people who have never heard of the Rock and to tourists who have been coming here since childhood.
“A side of Jersey,” Ms Warwick said, “that maybe people have never thought of before and never seen before.
“It is those first few seconds when you see it and you’re compelled to book. That’s what we’d like to see.”
