Bring on the liners

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Thousands more tourists could come to Jersey if ministers focus on attracting cruise liners to the Island, says St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft.

The Constable has recently returned from a trip to Funchal in Madeira where he says there are usually between one and four cruise liners in the harbour. He says that besides making a clear statement that the island is open to tourists, the liners bring with them huge numbers of visitors who pump money into businesses in the retail and hospitality trades.

Jersey does not currently have a deep water harbour at which liners can dock, but there has been talk over the years about investing in deep water berthing facilities, and Mr Crowcroft is due to ask questions of Economic Development Minister Alan Maclean in the States this morning about what can be done.

The Constable said: "In hard commercial terms, Funchal gets 300 cruise ship visits per year and that is some 650,000 tourists, most of whom if they are there for a day or so go to restaurants and shops and go on excursions.

"I want to find out what work has been done in the past about creating a cruise liner terminal and to try to bring it up the agenda because tourism as a whole is important to Jersey and it provides a lot of employment and income for the retail and hospitality sector.

"St Peter Port attracts cruise ships but there is much more to do in St Helier and shopping opportunities are far greater and there is a huge range of restaurants. The Island has much to offer both in and around St Helier – it’s a logical place for cruise liners to come, so we just need to create an infrastructure and I want to find out whether that is possible."