PRIVATE sector tourist projects will be eligible for government funding, an audience of tourism leaders heard on Friday.

The chief executive of the Economic Development Department, Mike King, said that it was the intention to widen the scope of the Tourism Development Fund to include private sector schemes in future.

He said that the fund would continue to exist and informed members they were going to have ‘a lot more teeth’ than they had in the past.

No monopoly He also told 120 members of the Jersey Hospitality Association at a lunch at Hotel L’Horizon that the Tourism Board would also continue to function.

‘We at Economic Development are not of the mind that we have the monopoly on what is right for tourism,’ he said.

Mr King also revealed that Jersey will be represented at an international cruise conference in Orlando in Florida.

He pointed out that Guernsey attracted 80 cruise ships last year, whereas Jersey got eight.

As a result the Island had contracted an expert operator to brief cruise ship companies to encourage them to bring their ships here.

He also said there must be change in the attitude of golf courses who currently did not easily allow tourists to make bookings to play.

‘We have two international-standard golf courses that do not feature in integrated offerings.

It sometimes appears the quickest way to get on to the golf course is to build a new one.

That has to be stopped,’ he said.