Jersey’s Environment Minister has raised concerns over the island’s declining number of tourist beds and expressed a desire to see new hotels developed “where possible”.
Deputy Steve Luce made the comments during a hearing of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel last week.
The island’s dwindling number of tourism beds has become more apparent in recent years, following the loss of several hotels – including the Mayfair, Stafford, Revere and Apollo.
Deputy Luce said he would “like to see, where possible, the development of new hotels”.
Our bed numbers in Jersey for the tourist industry have dropped now year-on-year for a long time, and it’s time we address that
Deputy Steve Luce, Minister for the Environment
He added: “I am very conscious of the number of beds – our bed numbers in Jersey for the tourist industry have dropped now year-on-year for a long time, and it’s time we address that.”
Panel member Deputy Alex Curtis asked if Deputy Luce was concerned that the current Island Plan provides no specific protections for visitor economy beds, “even for our best-loved hotels”.
Deputy Luce replied: “It’s another challenging discussion that I know has been had over the years, whether a restriction should be put on hotels that they can only ever be used for hotels in the future and that’s the end of it.
“Obviously there’s precedent here, a number of precedents in recent years where hotels have been demolished and housing has been rebuilt – that in itself has led to a reduction in bed numbers.”
But he also acknowledged the importance of a site’s “potential housing value” to hoteliers, adding: “I don’t want to stipulate to anybody that their hotel has to stay a hotel forever.
“I’d be much happier for them to say: ‘We are really happy to have a hotel here because it’s full of people all the time, they come to Jersey, they have a great holiday’.”