Jersey experienced the first year-on-year increase in visitors in over a decade in 2005.
Visitors to the island increased by 1% over 2004, to give a total of 752,270 spending £220 million.
Jersey Tourism recorded a total of 2.1 million overnight stays (bed nights sold) in paid accommodation – excluding yacht visits.
There were 380,900 leisure visitors staying in paid accommodation, 79% of which were from the UK, representing 77% of total bed nights sold.
The estimated visitor spend on accommodation for the year was £104 million. In total, on-island visitor expenditure has risen from £213 million in 2003 to £220 million in 2005.
Marketing and tourism director David de Carteret described the 2005 visitor statistics as “very positive”, adding: “We are taking strides to build on these figures year on year. The growing development of high-end properties and restaurants on-island, combined with major Jersey Tourism initiatives, will serve to continue to raise both visitor volume and expenditure.”
Initiatives include a ‘Spring into Summer’ campaign, a joint venture between Jersey Tourism and Jersey Airport to kick-start summer tourism by capping passenger landing and departure charges. Jersey is also focusing on our four main product clusters for 2006, including ‘Explore Jersey’, ‘Heritage & Culture’, ‘Kids Zone’ and ‘Time Out’.
Report by Phil Davies
