On Monday UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the key dates on which England aimed to ease restrictions for gatherings and travel, with Scotland following suit shortly afterwards.
Following Mr Johnson’s announcement, Condor Ferries confirmed that it had seen a ‘surge of interest’, with traffic on its website rising 46% and trips to the Channel Islands being of particular interest.
Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham said that work was taking place to assess how to ‘mitigate’ the risks of travellers arriving from the UK and added that plans would be announced next week. He admitted that border controls would not be relaxed until ministers were confident it was safe to do so.
‘Jersey’s border restrictions are one of the most important mitigation measures protecting the Island during this pandemic; we cannot relax them until it is safe to do so,’ he said.
‘I understand that Islanders are looking forward to knowing what plans are in place for travel to the UK and further afield, and the UK’s roadmap announcement has offered us a sense of hope that travel could resume this April or May.
‘Officers are looking at how we will mitigate the risks of arrivals into Jersey from UK scheduled and international charter flights. We hope to announce plans late next week once ministers have received an update on the developing policy detail in this area and the potential timelines.’
Condor chief executive Paul Luxon said he would like Jersey and Guernsey’s governments to announce plans for lifting restrictions as soon possible, so that the company could take advantage of the increased interest in travel.
‘It is early to know if this translates into a spike in bookings, as both Guernsey and Jersey are both maintaining strict border and quarantine restrictions,’ he said
‘A road map from both governments for relaxing these will provide greater confidence and can only serve to boost the two visitor economies this year.’
The English roadmap indicated that a decision on international travel would not happen until at least mid-May, which Mr Luxon said would increase opportunities for the islands to target the UK’s ‘staycation’ market before then.
Meanwhile, Patrick Burke, owner of the Atlantic Hotel, and Oliver Appleyard, marketing manager of Seymour Hotels, also called for the government to act, saying that the sector could not rely solely on the local market for its survival this summer.
Mr Burke said that he believed the UK market must be targeted and that the industry would suffer if Jersey’s borders did not open by at least May.
‘What is obvious to us from last year is that if we lose any part of the main summer season, because the Island is so seasonal, then we’re all in dire straits,’ he said.
‘While we have received really terrific support for our hotels and our restaurants, staycations alone cannot sustain an industry of the size that Jersey has.
‘We’re completely reliant on the visitor economy. That May-to-September period is vital to the industry. Last year we missed the first half of that period and the industry simply cannot operate on that basis.’
Mr Appleyard that he would like to see the Island’s borders open as soon as possible with appropriate safeguards in place.
‘Although we are extremely grateful for any staycation business this year, with such a limited market in terms of volume, this will not be enough to sustain our industry for the year,’ he said.
‘I’d like to see the borders opening up as soon as feasibly possible. I appreciate that we need to ensure safety measures will remain in place but the Seymour Hotel Group and the industry as a whole is a leading light in terms of providing safe and controlled environments for a holiday in Jersey this year.’
He added: ‘We are advocates of the free testing service that the government has provided to date but this needs to be coupled with either no quarantine or a first-test turnaround of 12 hours as per last summer.
‘The industry is in desperate need of revival and this can still be the case if borders open imminently.’
