Come to Jersey – it’s euro-free
Saturday 24th January 2009, 10:00AM GMT.
JERSEY will soon be advertised as ‘Europe without the euro’ in the UK to try to attract tourists to the Island.
A decision was taken at a top-level meeting of industry leaders last week to use the weakness of the pound directly as a marketing tool for 2009. The new message will be in addition to Jersey Tourism’s recently launched 2009 campaign. Tourism’s UK campaign so far has not focused on the weak pound but it appears to be having a positive effect already.
Tourism marketing manager Simon Le Huray said that there had been a 27% increase in requests for the Jersey Tourism brochure pack, compared to this time last year, and website visits had ‘gone through the roof’.
The chief executive of the Jersey Hospitality Association, Gerald Fletcher (pictured), said that research conducted by Economic Development concluded that reinforcing the point that Jersey was in a sterling area would benefit this year’s campaign.
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OK! but the pound is worth nothing!and Jersey is six times more expensive than anywhere else.
Have i missed something?? Ahh,another April fools gag ha ha yes very funny.
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Maybe – but it still has GST and VAT, so it AIN’T CHEAP!!!!!
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……and what you’ll save in Euro’s, you’ll spend more in pounds as everything is so expensive to do.
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but dont forget to tell them about g.s.t and the fact that nobody deducts v.a.t
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Great for tourists, but islanders pound have shrunk by 27%..
It would have been better if Jersey had demarcated it’s independence by joining the Euro!
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Just how is that going to attract visitors to Jersey(?)
We are more expensive than europe anyway(!)
Don’t tell me this is another ‘consultant being paid for a dumb idea’(!)
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We have been travelling to Jersey for 10 years almost every year – from Ireland and sterling has always been a huge problem. However, the cost of hotels on the island is very high – maybe some of them could look at reducing their prices in order to attract more tourists. Also in Ireland we have no choice but to travel with Aer Lingus and their prices are very expensive 3 flights costing almost €600 thats before you pay for your hotel.
Any advice or comments. By the way we love Jersey and were married on the island.
Regards
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Like Mary I have been holidaying in Jersey for many years, but must bring bad luck as L’hermitage, Bergerac, Chateau Valuese, where I have stayed are no longer. It is very sad to see these hotels being sold off, bulldozed down. L’Hermitage in particular was always full and we stayed many times. I understand the art deco Portlet Bay is being sold as well – so no wonder jersey is struggling with tourism! Jersey certaintly isnt what it was when i first stayed there.
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I returned home from Jersey the other day and the first thing I saw on TV was a new advert for Jersey.It looked quite good-as holiday adverts always do-but then the phrase regarding “shopping being less taxing” made me sit up and take notice.As an ex-resident I truly wish that they would stop trying to promote Jersey as being “cheap” or “less expensive” than the UK as it is false advertising in my opinion.The best market to aim at is couples of forty plus who enjoy walking,eating out(and possibly have the cash to not worry about the cost)and are looking for a long relaxing weekend.Families,in general,find it too expensive and if the weather is bad there is little to do.Since moving to the UK i have spoken to countless people who have visited the island and this is honestly what I have discovered.
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How misleading !! Yes entice visitors to come to Jersey as we are “Euro free” but where are they going to tell them about the a) cost to get here, b) the cost of accomodation and c) the cost of most things while they are here ? In the small print ?
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Mary, sadly you are not alone.
I have many friends in the UK who I try and persuade to visit. Unfortunately they would rather holiday in the US, Thailand, Africa or other worldwide destinations as often there isn’t a great deal of difference in price and they get far more value for their money.
Can’t say I blame them!
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Will someone please tell Tourism this. Looking at the comments from people that have stayed here makes sad reading. Yet again it’s too little too late. The Euro / Sterling situation has got nothing to do with the lack of Tourists. The States have bowed to Golden Goose of Finance, Hoteliers have cashed in on the housing boom and no one really gives a dam as long as their pockets are full of cash.
Greed greed and more greed has put the Island into this position. I don’t think there is an easy answer. Maybe the recession and a Housing Price crash will level things out. But with a greatly reduced Finance Sector, who will be left here?
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If the adverts are going to say “Europe without the euro” then I assume they are deliberately trying to mislead everyone. Although Europe really means the continent, of which we are a part, it is now often interpreted as being the European Federation which was formally known as the European Union amongst other names.
Obviously we all know that visitors from the rest of the British Islands can still spend their devalued pounds here. Those of us who live here know just how far those pounds will now go. They are probably also becoming aware of how the tourism industry is being dismantled to follow the decline of farming. There is still the finance industry but even that will have a limited life.
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RL all these hotels have been turned into flats as every spare space has been in recent years you might probably remember how cheap it was years ago half the price drink cigarettes permume etc than uk good sea routes,everywhere was packed in spring summer and autumn plenty of shows all gone now.they certainly killed the goose that laid the golden egg,its not much fun for locals either.most seaside towns in uk offer far more than jersey.it would be a good idea for tourism to take a look at weymouth which is always packed and has keep the quaint harbour and town how it was which most people prefer,you need to book well in advance to get a place to stay,it is like jersey use to be.alas there is very little now to attract the visitor to this island
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Ok then that’s all good news but now the hotel’s have been converted into apartment’s; where are you going to put these holiday maker’s! We can always consider Pontins and give them a pot of paint and sleeping bag.
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Bella- regarding your point about seaside towns in the UK offering more than Jersey.Since moving to the UK we were taken by some friends to Skegness for the day.As beaches go it was nowhere near as good as some that Jersey has to offer but the promenade areas were beautifully kept.We found it quite old fashioned to be honest but it is obviously what people like as it was heaving(even though weather was overcast) and every guest house had the full sign up (and there were hundreds of them!)We had fish and chips with bread and butter and a mug of tea for a couple of quid.As I said Jersey is far prettier,in my opinion,but why would a family on a budget trek over there for the same weather and probably be paying for it for the next year!
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I am disgusted at Tourism’s attempt to mislead people into thinking that
1) Jersey is cheap
GST and the cost of travel to Jersey and accomodation in Jersey make the place more expensive than many resorts on the Continent.
2) Jersey is “Europe”
Jersey has sold its heritage to England over the years and has just as much a feeling of being “Europe” than anywhere in the UK. Take a look at the town – just like any small market town in England.
And its about time that Jersey people should wake up to all this misleading rubbish that they are being told about it being an “independent country”. Of course it isn’t. The UK is rapidly eroding the island’s uniqueness. When it comes to the crunch and Whitehall or Brussels want to get their way, Jersey is about as independent as the Isle of Wight!
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This assumes that the Euro Pound rate will stay the same this year. As Europe follows the UK into recession the rate will become less favourable. So Jersey will be … expensive.
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OK 26% increase in brochure requests.
Wait till they see the prices.
It will be informative to see a comparison at the end of the season, “brochure requests / beds filled”
People are looking for cheap holidays during these uncertain times, Jersey used to equal cheap, good value, family holidays. Now unless you earn high Jersey wages (in comparison to an equal job in UK) you cant afford to come here.
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they clearly forgot to add a sentence to the advert “Europe without the Euro…. but more expensive than europe and not a lot to do once your here”. Before advertising the island as a tourist destination I think it would be better to first make it a tourist destination.
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julie for a couple of quid you would only get the cup of tea here never been to skeggy,but have been to plenty of seaside town in uk and are just as pretty,some prettier than jersey and a whole lot cheaper,and people in uk can drive or take train without the hassle and expense of getting here.i know which i would choose if i lived in uk
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Unfortunately unlike our more civilised continental cousings we have the lovely sight of drunks and people spitting in the streets. Not the kind of thing you go on holiday to see.
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Julie, I would have to agree about the beaches. The only beaches I’ve seen in the UK that are better than Jersey are a couple in Cornwall and the beaches in the Hebrides of Scotland. However, these are generally fairly remote, you can’t drive right up to them and they don’t have cafes etc so they attract different people to beaches in Jersey.
Big Bean, having just finally moved here myself I worry about the things you mention. I know my family will be desperate to visit me here but will struggle to afford it (I don’t have a spare room or anything so they would have to stay in hotels) and no direct flights. But equally, I don’t want to have to spend ALL my holidays off work going back home, I want to travel too.
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…..and, thos of us not on a decent wage can’t afford to leave either!
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HOpefully the add will include ‘don’t fall sick in Jersey because there are no beds available at the hospital’.
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Is Jersey part of Europe?
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In my day it was “A taste of France without the bother of learning french”.
Plus ça change ,,,
Little England!
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OK let’s get one thing straight… Tourism isn’t failing in Jersey due to the lack of hotels as RL said, hotels are failing as there are no tourists coming to the island…Jersey tourism need to pull a finger out and work with all major stakeholders (hoteliers/event organisers/airlines/restaurants) in the island to work out the best method of bringing tourists back… otherwise these people will have no business to offer and will therefore have to sell up in order to make a buck whilst they still can
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1.9 million unemployed in the uk will not be coming here for a holiday.
look at the cheap flights out of the uk to europe, which will offset the poor exchange rate.
i wish tourism all the luck in the world as they are putting in the effort.
the frontline staff are first class.
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Ironically I was on my way to get some Euros in town when I saw this article on Saturday morning. While many British do not seem themselves as European, I believe the near parity of the Euro with the Pound means it is a question of time before the UK enters. What title will Jersey Tourism award the island when it stands alone, “Come to Jersey, Last Bastion of the Pound”?
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I work in the tourist industry and I can tell you now that we are trying everything possible, including trying to get Tourism to do something useful! I’m so pleased though it’s not just me that thinks these ad’s are totally misleading, everytime I mention it at my place of work I get laughed at! Jersey as a whole needs to reduce it’s prices and until then the hotels can’t reduce their prices as the owners are trying to pay their staff and feed their families!Plus the States need to reduce their landing fee- most airports in the UK charge around £25-£30 for 2 people, Jersey charges £75 for 2 people, before taxes, baggage, check-in costs etc etc are added in. I totally agree to Julie in point 9- it needs selling to the correct people!
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And harabour dues going up 2.5% (thanks Alan Maclean and Philip Ozouf) which is going to be passed on via boat fares. This is certainly keeping election promises to assist the tourism industry and diversification!!!
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It is time that everyone woke up and realised that tourism is never going to be a big earner for the Island. We will always get a few couples who have no kids or kids off their hands who want a quick weekend away, or retired couples who come year after year and obviously business travellers and those visiting their families. For families, Jersey is great but too expensive and a flight away. If you could drive to Cornwall, Dorset, West Wales, the Norfolk Broads etc why bother with the cost and hassle of flights and booking in advance when the weather is unpredictable?
If we wanted to make tourism a big thing we should legalise drugs, get a casino and strip club set up and try to get cityboys over on stag dos, though we seem to have missed the boat there.
Those who go on about cost miss the point. Jersey is expensive because it is wealthy. If you want things to be cheaper, you need to reduce the average standard of living for most people. If the locals will pay £7 for fish and chips and a mug of tea then why should we expect tourists to be charged £2?
GST is 3%, that’s nothing. Those who wish to see a cheaper Jersey should perhaps start by campaigning to lower the minimum wage. People will only spend what they can afford, and prices will always move to match what people will pay.
So, cheaper Jersey = poorer Jersey.
Anyway, what does tourism bring to the Island? Like agriculture, it seems like there are a very few people who make a lot of money and a large number of non-local workers who are paid next to nothing. Tourism, agriculture and retail employ far fewer locals (as a percenage of the workforce) than the finance industry.
So if we want to lower the population, lets start by closing down low-value tourism, retail and agriculture. Give the land to locals to use as allotments. Let’s try to lower our carbon footprint and make the Island wholly organic. Then we’d have something that was unique and made people want to come and see.
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Until 2 or 3 years ago My wife and I came to Jersey every year for 40 years,
And had a wonderful time for three or four weeks in Autumn.
We would spend an average of about five thousand pounds on hotels and hire cars etc,
Now that GST is being charged on top of the UK 17 % making 20%, we feel that rip off Jersey is something that we can do without, we don´t begrudge the 3% gst BUT 20% ?????
Also the comment about spitting in the street, and laud drunken yobsroaming the st. Helier streets at night is something we very rarely find on the continent and can do without…
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Again – simple comprehension problems from a lot of these posts. No where in the article does it say Jersey is cheap. It hasn’t been cheap for 15 or 20 years. What they are saying is that Jersey is cheaper to those from Europe than last year because of the weak pound. So those paying £1,000 say for travel and accommodation etc last year will now only pay £700. The advert is merely trying to remind Europeans that we are cheaper than we were last year because of the exchange rate. Why are people even talking about those travelling from the UK – do they use the Euro?
Those blaming the States for the lack of hotels/tourism need to point their finger elsewhere – preferably to the landowners who chose to convert their land to apartments etc. But then landowners made a decision the same as most would being presented with the fact they could earn loads more cash by doing so. Those saying ‘Jersey needs to pull its finger out’ regarding tourism – it’s never going to happen because these landowners are never going to convert back. Even if Jersey had a million visitors a year, hotels still wouldn’t return the instant cash rewards selling 10 rabbit hutches for £250,000 plus will.
Mad Foetus also makes a good point about Tourism being a ‘low value’ economy. People don’t realise that tourism and agriculture are heavily subsidised by locals. Why would the States throw millions at boosting the tourism industry when cheap labour needs to be subsidised in terms of social security contributions and low tax receipts? Better to get someone in finance so they are not subsidised, return higher tax receipts and spend more in the local economy.
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Nathan Jordan (30) – “What title will Jersey Tourism award the island when it stands alone”
Welcome to Poundworld?
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Jersey is well over priced. Using the fall in the pound against foreign currencies is a bit like clutching at straws. I say get a grip slash over charging for imports, reduce the number of rich in Jersey as they drive up costs. These two factors will reduce costs.
Jersey will be good value once finance and the rich leave with plenty of room for those to live in cheap property and getting back to basics. The standard of living may fall but will be more than made up for by a much increased quality of life for those remaining. Jersey needs to return to its core values and get away from this get rich at all costs attitude it is driving Jersey down the drain for all except the rich.
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I am surprised no-one has mentioned something that annoys me every time I return from Jersey: The Jersey money.
Every time I return to the UK, I have a pocket full of change and a wallet full of pound notes that I cannot spent here. What is the point of having a currency linked to the pound but is only able to be spent in Jersey? It is like having my pocket picked every time I leave.
If tourism want to encourage visitors from the UK, stop printing and minting Jersey money, and use the UK stuff.
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Is it true that uk visitors will next year need to get a passport to visit jersey but will not need one to travel to rep of ireland or european countries as there they just need any photographic id at airport or boat?
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Hmmm… let me think Jersey, awful weather, expensive accomodation, expensive flights/ferry/food/drink and the usual english moaning or a tropical resort with much cheaper prices or all-inclusive, guaranteed weather, white sandy beaches, rainforests, kids clubs, free watersports, cheap car hire and a more relaxed environment.
When will islanders and Jersey tourism learn it has nothing to do with promotions or finance, the reason why tourism has decreased is because of package holidays offering for example £550-600 for 7 days in Mombasa/Egypt/Dom rep etc all inclusive compared with £500+ to come here and then pay for internal travel, food and drink at UK+ costs….take the hint!!
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Jersey is europe without the euro!
But you’ll have to remortgage to get here!!!!!
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REG
I agree with your point but I think you have missed Jersey’s target market – or at least the way I think it should be. Jersey isn’t (or shouldn’t be) targeting at the all inclusive market where you all race for your Ryan Air seats, turn up to a resort with screaming kids and realise you could be in any country as they all look the same – Dubai being the classic example. Jersey is focusing on more bespoke/boutique type holidays where both weather and cheapness are not the prime reasons to visit – it’s impossible for Jersey to compete like that – but instead competing on it’s uniqueness, quirks, and individual service.
Everyone keeps saying that Jersey isn’t cheap that’s why people are not coming. You are right if you looking for the all inclusive family holiday perspective – hopefully Tourism are finding Jersey’s niche. Longville Manner is a classic example – it’s certainly not cheap but when you experience the service and what you get it could be considered value for money – that’s the target we should be appealing too.
Clearly this isn’t going to get the masses booking flights – but that is the point. Jersey and its people need to face up to the fact we are not a suitable destination for an ‘all inclusive’ and the market it attracts.
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James, would the same apply to Scotland?
I would not support such a move as tourism is helped by retaining the aspects that are unique to a place, not getting rid of them. You sound as if you go back and forth a fair amount (as I do) in which case just keep a second smaller wallet with your Jersey money in it and use it when you get back.
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please explain to me why anyone would want to come here !!!
the cost to get over the pond is 10 times more than uk to france .
the weather is rubbish .
the beaches are covered in seaweed ,stink ,and half the time the sea is out .
if the weathers bad theres nothing to do .
and shopping is more expensive than anywhere ,and loads of shops are closing anyway . so save your money and go to spain …
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and if the states had half a brain ,they would build deep water moorings for yachts and liners ,and not lookalike concrete u boat pens on the coast !
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micky bad
“…and half the time the sea is out .”
Jeez! I really can’t believe that comment. These people just don’t know how lucky they are. The fact the sea goes out as far as it does revealing spectacular landscapes, defensive positions, and wildlife is what makes this place unique in the world! Keep watching MTV and Big Brother.
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Have to agree Joker, I choose where I go on the views, scenery, history… I don’t understand people going abroad for shopping or to lie on a generic beach with a generic view 24/7.
Personally Spain doesn’t appeal to me, even if it is cheap.
Jersey has good beaches, as for the weather I really don’t get why people keep saying it’s bad. But then people always think the weather where they live is bad, if they lived somewhere else 365 days a year they’d complain about it there too.
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A 27% increase in requests for the Jersey Tourism brochure pack compared to this time last year? What he forgets to say is that the Tourism website was down this time last year.
And it would be nice to know exactly how many hits the web site has received.
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