THE government must encourage investment in new visitor accommodation to bring more tourists to Jersey, as town footfall figures and arrival numbers still remain lower than pre-pandemic levels, say two hospitality leaders.
The comments by the industry representatives follow the release of data which show visitors to town numbered 163,315 from 18 to 24 July (the latest figures available) – a 24.1% decrease on the same dates in 2019.
And the number of arrivals by air in June was 66,969 – a 21% decrease on June 2019. Meanwhile, 23,583 passengers arrived by sea during the month, a drop of just over a quarter.
Robert Mackenzie, director of CI Travel Group and chair of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce Tourism, Venues and Attractions Group, said that the loss of beds in the tourism market was creating fewer airport connections.
He said: ‘We have lost numerous visitor accommodation options, the recovery from Covid is still ongoing, you now require a passport to travel from France to Jersey, there have been significant issues with airlines and airports, which puts people off travelling, and this leads to fewer arrivals, which has a direct impact on town footfall.
‘Everyone should be concerned because it affects the tourism industry, retail and hospitality.’
Mr Mackenzie added: ‘We need to see more investment in visitor accommodation. This will take time and the government has a role to play in encouraging investment. For the future of our visitor economy, we need to see investment.’
Dominic Jones, chief executive of JPRestaurants, believes that town footfall remains lower than in 2019 because people continue to work from home and there are fewer people travelling to the Island.
‘I think these types of figures are going to become the new normal now. I can’t see a random bounce back happening to make up that extra 20% or so,’ he said.
‘As an industry, we are going to need to adjust to this new normal. We have to be more efficient. I think we will have to right-size ourselves in order to adjust,’ he added.
Mr Jones said that St Helier had to ‘acknowledge the challenge’ it was facing with lower footfall and believed everyone had a part to play to encourage people into town.
‘The government needs to make investment in hotels as easy as possible in order to create connectivity. While the hospitality industry is not completely reliant on the visitor economy, it does play a part and if we cannot get people into the Island, then it will have a knock-on effect,’ he said.
Connor Burgher, town centre manager, agreed that people were continuing to work from home and the number of arrivals remained low, meaning that fewer people were coming into town.
However, he said he believed that those coming into town were continuing to spend.
‘Having spoken anecdotally with some businesses, they have said they are doing quite well. I think the relationship between footfall and how much people spend does not always directly correlate,’ he said.
‘We have got a number of new businesses operating in St Helier and places like Colmar, which has just opened on the high street, is constantly full,’ he added.
Mr Burgher said that it was ‘really hard to tell’ whether footfall figures would return to pre-pandemic levels.
‘For whatever reasons, we have not had as many people in this summer but numbers are still up on last year and it is moving in the right direction,’ he said.
‘People often give the excuse that there is nothing for me in town but I encourage those people to actually make the effort to come in and see what is on offer because there really is something for everyone,’ he added.
