Visit Jersey may have to lower million-visitor aim due to Covid

VISIT Jersey may have to abandon its target of attracting one million visitors by 2030, its new chief executive has said.

Amanda Burns, who has been in her new post for six weeks, said that Covid-19 might force the promotional body to set new goals which took account of changes to the travel industry resulting from the current crisis.

‘We’re in a different world now and we’ve got to reset, as all businesses around the world, particularly in the travel and tourism industry, have got to do. I don’t know how the travel industry is going to evolve but it does mean that we need to look again at those targets,’ she said.

Last year Ms Burns’ predecessor, Keith Beecham, said that – in a year where visitor numbers reached 771,000 – growth in holidaymakers was falling behind the level set when he took up his post in 2015 but pointed out that visitor spending remained on track.

Ms Burns said that, once the immediate health crisis was over, she hoped that the upward trajectory in visitor numbers would continue, although she declined to set any new figure to replace the original aspiration.

However, she said there were signs for optimism both in the short term – where the Island could capitalise on its success in meeting the Covid-19 health challenge – and looking to the future when it could seek to align measures to reduce Jersey’s carbon footprint with recent trends in the tourism industry.

‘We’ve also got to give that end-to-end reassurance about safety, be it travel insurance that covers you for Covid before you go to your destination, as well as when you are there. It’s about our safety measures and protection of the booking experience. That’s going to be really crucial in terms of the recovery of the travel industry.

‘There’s pent-up demand for travel but visitors want reassurance that it’s going to be a safe experience, so a shorter journey, knowing that you are going to be safe when you arrive in Jersey, infection rates kept low for residents as well as visitors, and giving them a wonderful experience – those are the important things now,’ she said.

Ms Burns, who previously worked for the Great Western Railway and for Tourism Ireland, said that her immediate priority was to talk to those in the industry but she expressed cautious optimism that Jersey could capitalise on aspects of its culture and history to meet new markets developing in eco-tourism.

‘Yes, we have amazing beaches that are wonderful in the summer but there is more to Jersey than just our coastline. How can we identify those experiences that will appeal to people probably in more niche groups – take, for example, La Hougue Bie and the equinox. That’s going to attract a very small number in relative terms but that narrative is interesting. What about our Jersey diaspora around the world or our connections with New Jersey? These have not been scoped out yet but they are questions I am asking in terms of the philosophy that every visitor counts. It comes back to the long and short-term approach,’ she said.

Ms Burns is the subject of the Saturday Interview on pages 10 and 11 of Saturday's (12 September) JEP.