JERSEY needs to create accommodation for key workers ‘as a priority’ to help rebuild the Island’s tourism industry, according to the Economic Development Minister.
Senator Lyndon Farnham said that possible solutions to the major staff shortages in the hospitality sector – including changing planning rules to help provide accommodation for workers – were being urgently discussed.
He made the comments after Jersey Hospitality Association chief executive Claire Boscq-Scott said businesses were trying to fill ‘at least 600 vacancies’, while firms that had sourced foreign labour were in need of more than 400 beds for those due to arrive at the start of the season.
Senator Farnham, who recently attended a JHA lunch event at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel, said: ‘The challenges we face here in Jersey are indicative of the challenges being faced globally by tourism industries in many different countries.
‘I am working closely with the sector and other government ministers, urgently exploring ways we can find solutions to the challenges we are all facing.
‘We are mindful of the urgency of the situation and will do everything we can to help alleviate it in the short term.
‘Ultimately this is a medium- to long-term challenge and I’m confident we will overcome the difficulties caused by Brexit and Covid and rebuild our tourism industry. The key to solving this is creating provision for really good quality key worker accommodation – not just for hospitality but for other vital sectors such as health, agriculture and retail.
‘If we are going to bring people into Jersey to work and be part of our community, we need to make sure they have access to good quality accommodation without that impacting detrimentally on the shortage of housing for Islanders.
‘That is why, in my opinion, a separate tier of key worker accommodation needs to be created as a priority.’
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality – an organisation that represents service-industry businesses – spoke at the JHA lunch on Friday.
Senator Farnham said: ‘We share the same problems, challenges and opportunities.
‘We discussed how we can work together and one thing that came across is clear – Jersey is a really high-quality visitor destination that we need to strongly promote in our UK key markets.’
