Jersey has kept its borders open and the island has excelled when it comes to testing and protecting its islanders. It really has done an excellent job, which is why it’s come top of the table for testing in Europe.
The hospitably industry has worked hard and done everything within its power to salvage what was left of the summer season. But despite of all this, visitor numbers remained way down on 2019. The problem now is not what people can expect when getting here, but leaving their country of origin in the first place.
Countries are shifting from amber to red
We’re currently seeing a second wave of Covid-19 across the globe, and countries are shifting from amber to red status. Wherever they visit, people from these countries and regions are going to face long periods of self-isolation. There aren’t many people who can afford to spend two weeks in quarantine just for the sake of a holiday.
The status of countries are changing quickly, too. People don’t want to risk being caught out on holiday if the status of their destination, or home country, changes over night. They also don’t want to risk sitting on a plane next to someone who tests positive and face isolation because of that. Understandably, there isn’t any confidence in travel right now, which means our tourist season has effectively come to an end.
Jersey is ready to go
Almost all of Jersey’s cases come from inbound travel. The disease has not ripped through the community, thankfully, and it’s merely a matter of time before Jersey finds itself as close to green status as it can possibly be. While this isn’t of much help to tourism now, it will be of huge benefit when travel resumes, hopefully once this second wave is over.
When there’s an appetite for travel again, we won’t have to wait for our R number to drop and the number of cases to decrease. Jersey will be ready to go and raring to welcome back visitors. We’ve proven that we have a world class testing system in place, and that we have the virus under control, and that will be a huge draw for travellers on the other side of this.