The campaign – now in it’s third year – was designed to ‘change people’s perception’ of Jersey as purely a summer holiday destination, to somewhere to visit during the winter months.
A video was released as part of the campaign featuring a local couple enjoying ‘bracing walks’ on the beach as well as cosy Jersey pubs, restaurants and spa hotels.
The initiative was launched in the UK earlier in the week and a translated version is due to be released in France on Monday.
Adam Caerlewy-Smith, head of marketing for Visit Jersey, said that while the organisation – which is responsible for promoting the Island – could not claim responsibility for every visit to the Island, he could say that ‘in the first quarter of 2017, tourism was worth £18 million to Jersey’s economy’.
This figure has risen year on year since Visit Jersey first launched its tourism campaign three years ago.
Hopes for an increase in revenue from the Island’s tourism sector has been bolstered by this year’s predicted recovery of German tourists travelling to Jersey for their vacation. The German visitor market suffered a declined during 2017 due to the collapse of the airline AirBerlin.
German visitor numbers fell from 24,000 in 2016, to 18,000 in 2017.
Last year was described by Visit Jersey as a ‘tough year’ when it came to attracting visitors from Germany, but they have predicted a 63 per cent increase 2017’s figures from that market.
Mr Caerlewy-Smith said he was ‘optimistic’ there would be a recovery in visits from Germany this year.
The value of 21,000 visitors from Germany is estimated to be roughly £10 million.
Mr Caerlewy-Smith said: ‘There are good reasons to be very optimistic about the upcoming year, with scheduled routes from Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Munich, as well as a weekly charter route from Dusseldorf throughout the summer, and one-off charters from a number of other German cities.’
Visit Jersey, which was formed three years ago to tackle a decade-long deterioration in tourism, has been working to revive the Island’s ailing tourism sector by acting as a more ‘commercial and innovative organisation’ than the previous States-run department, according to it’s marketing head.
One of their recent campaigns included the live streaming of a sunset at the Splash to a London pub.
