While tourism and hospitality have been among the industries worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Jersey’s unique offering makes it an attractive destination on the other side of this crisis – and the island must be ready to seize the opportunity, says Simon Soar of the Jersey Hospitality Association.
‘Jersey’s borders might be closed, and there are obviously quarantine requirements for anyone arriving here, but this won’t and can’t be the case forever.
‘When things relax – in the UK and on the continent – there will be lots of people who will have cancelled their holidays, or had them pushed back, and they will be looking for somewhere to go. Also, they’ll want to know that things will be open when they get there.
‘Travellers will be looking for somewhere safe and we’re seeing a big movement at the moment of people wanting to go somewhere closer to home, but somewhere that still requires getting on a plane – and, ultimately, somewhere that’s safe. So we’re seeing an opening for us, and there could be a lot of opportunities for Jersey but we’ve got to be ready to take them.
‘Priority number one has to be ensuring that people can travel here safely, and that being said, we need to make sure the island stays safe. We’ve also got think about who we can bring here. The average age of our visitor was 53, but the travel landscape has changed and that might mean we could look at attracting a wider demographic.
‘We’ve got to ensure we can offer health and wellbeing and we have to offer visitors space. We’re not a city, people don’t have to be cramped up in small spaces.
‘What the JHA has to do is look at what infrastructure and processes can be put in place to make Jersey as safe as possible and to create an attractive destination on the other side of this crisis.’
