Jersey has highest number of holidaymakers for over 15 years

Friday 02 March 2018

Over 400,000 people chose to holiday in Jersey last year, making it the busiest since 2001.

Holidaymakers are categorised as people who choose to visit the island for leisure purposes for more than one night. 2017 had 413,200 holiday makers; almost 58,000 more than 2016 and the highest number recorded for over 15 years.

Of last year’s visitors, 52% were coming to Jersey for the first time – and Visit Jersey hope it won’t be their last.

Overall the tourism body recorded visits to Jersey - including those for business and trips to see family and friends – were up by 5% from 2016 with 727,000 visits. This was the highest recorded for a decade - but there has been a decline in visitors from our other neighbour France.

It seems while in the island, visitors are also spending more – 10% more in fact - with £250 million spent by visitors in 2017. This generated £12.5 million pounds in GST revenue for the States.

Some of the visitors' spending money went towards local attractions with the Jersey War Tunnels, Jersey Pearl and the castles being among the most-visited, but their opinion of Jersey’s shopping and retail experience hasn’t impressed as much as previous years, with visitors giving it a slightly lower rating of four-out-of-five.

Pictured: Elizabeth Castle is one of the most-visited attractions in Jersey by tourists. 

Commenting on the 2017 figures, Keith Beecham, Chief Executive Officer of Visit Jersey said: “This is encouraging news that our economy is increasingly benefitting from tourism. We are confident that this trend will endure in 2018 as we continue our efforts to reach 1 million visitors spending £500 million by 2030. Visit Jersey is working hard with our tourism partners on-island and overseas, promoting Jersey year-round as #theislandbreak, and it’s gratifying to see plans for an inter-island ferry in 2018 which should help boost day visits.

“Visit Jersey’s efforts include a focus on low season visits, with some success in 2017. There is evidence that the proportion of overnight holidays in these quieter months has grown for the third consecutive year.”

Jersey’s Economic Development Minister, Senator Lyndon Farnham added: “I am delighted to see the hard work of Visit Jersey, our tourism and hospitality businesses and our transport providers delivering more visitors to Jersey in 2017. These are impressive results and I look forward to 2018 with confidence as more flights, more events and more reasons to visit Jersey entice people to our shores.”

Lead picture by Visit Jersey.