Tourism ‘must cater for all sections of holiday market’ – Visit Jersey head wants ‘full range of accommodation’

• Head of Visit Jersey says more diverse visitor accommodation is needed
• The orgnaisation replaced Jersey Tourism earlier this year
• Last week a potential new campsite in St Peter was announced
• Do you think the Island needs more budget accommodation? Take part in our poll below

JERSEY needs to continue to offer diverse visitor accommodation to cater for different holidaymakers, says the chief executive at Visit Jersey.

Visit Jersey has been charged with boosting the Island’s ailing tourism market and has been set the challenge of generating £500 million from visitors each year by 2030.

It is due to conduct research in the coming months into what appeals most to visitors and what Jersey can offer tourists when they arrive.

Keith Beecham, Visit Jersey’s chief executive, said that the Island needed to cater for those looking for camping and self-catering accommodation just as much as to those who wanted a five-star hotel experience.

His comments follow news of a potential new campsite in St Peter.

Last week it emerged that the owners of a site off Rue de Val de la Mare du Sud, near Mont à la Brune, had submitted plans to redevelop a former agricultural building and farm into six self-catering units and a campsite with space for 23 pitches or motor homes.

Mr Beecham said: ‘What Jersey needs to do is offer a full range of accommodation, from budget all the way to the great five-star opportunities that people have here.

Read a full JEP interview with Keith Beecham from May this year here

‘If we focus on camping and self-catering, I think that’s an area that tends to be at the more affordable end of the equation.

‘Another interesting aspect is that people coming to stay at self-catering accommodation or campsites are also spending money in the local shops and supporting local businesses during their stay.

‘That money trickles into the economy more quickly and that sometimes gets overlooked.

‘With campsites, nearby stores will see an uplift.’

The chief executive also said that visitors often expected to be able to camp when events such as Jersey Live were on, and that the Island should have ‘the right kind of accommodation’ for such festivals.

And he explained that following the UK recession, ‘staycations’ in England and Wales peaked in 2009, but that the home holiday market had since tailed off following the gradual economic recovery.

Mr Beecham added that the Airbnb phenomenon – a business which enables visitors to book spare rooms in ordinary homes – was also growing in popularity in the Island.

‘This is all part of the do-it-yourself trend,’ he explained.

‘The last time I looked, there were 28 homes in Jersey on the Airbnb website.

‘We can’t deny it’s happening, but we need to make sure that its a level playing field for providers of accommodation and that there is equality and fairness when it comes to things like fire safety and businesses having to pay tax.

‘One general observation about why people enjoy self-catering is that they are looking for a site of authenticity that allows them to meet the local community.

‘We will soon be conducting research into different segments of the market to understand what visitors are looking for and what reasons we can offer them to visit Jersey.’

Earlier this week it was revealed that the number of Germans coming to the Island has increased by around 60 per cent in the last nine years thanks to effective marketing and a close co-operation between travel companies.

Keith Beecham, chief executive for Visit Jersey, said: ‘Germany is a success story for Jersey once again this year with a further increase in visitor numbers.

Ernst Topf, co-founder of Jersey Special Tours added: ‘Yes, we have definitely seen an increase. I think we have seen more groups and less individuals.

‘I came to Jersey in 1964 to learn English and I loved it. One thing led to another and I ended up staying here.’

• 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 this year.