A RECOMMENDATION on whether a government-backed trial enabling free entry to Jersey Museum should be reinstated will be made once the scheme’s “effectiveness” has been reviewed, the Economic Development Minister has said.
The update from Deputy Gerald Voisin followed questions from St Brelade Deputy Montfort Tadier, who has called for the return of the free-entry initiative that was in place from July 2024 to July 2026.
Jersey Heritage had hailed the trial as a “big success”, noting that visitor figures to the site stood at 41,075 for the first year of free entry compared to 20,822 in the 12 months before the scheme began.
Jersey Heritage Board of Trustees Amy Hall stated earlier this year that the government was unable to continue supporting the initiative due to “well-publicised funding pressures”.
Deputy Voisin told Deputy Tadier that he had not had the opportunity to evaluate the outcome of the trial, which he said had cost “about half a million pounds a year”.
He noted that he had recently delegated functions for arts, culture, and heritage to his assistant minister, Senator Serena Kersten.
“I have asked her to liaise with Jersey Heritage to review the effectiveness of the free trial. I am confident that she will be able to recommend whether the trial restarts in due course,” Deputy Voisin explained.
He acknowledged that the number of visits to Jersey Museum in 2025 “increased by about 34%” but said that there had been a fall in visitors to the Maritime Museum and Gorey Castle, “which would have also had an impact on the revenue of the museum service”.
The minister contended that the question of whether to reinstate the trial was related to how the States Assembly’s agreed funding formula for arts, culture and heritage – to invest 1% of overall expenditure in the sector – was allocated.
