From Patrick Cooper.
‘A SAD reflection on the state of Jersey’s tourism industry’ is how a friend of mine, visiting the Island for the first time, commented while passing the former Pontin’s holiday camp at Plémont.

To be honest, I feel he has a fair point, after all, the camp leaves a larger blot on the headland than most of the German Occupation bunker installations.

The same friend, who is a Second World War enthusiast, was also quite critical about the lack of access to the various bunker installations on the Island, especially at Noirmont, Grosnez and Les Landes.

As far as I am aware, only the Jersey War Tunnels and one bunker at St Ouen are open on a daily basis during the peak summer season.

I believe that the Island has huge potential for tourism (I am old enough to remember when tourist numbers swelled the island population by some 50,000 during the peak summer season) in its various forms. However, we do need to go about it in the right way and be prepared to change and adapt to the evolving tourist market and its needs.

In times of difficulty, such as these – where we cannot simply rely on banking revenue – we reflect on what has gone before and how we can move forward. Of course the best way is to build on our strengths, such as local natural and man-made resources. Ask yourself ‘what do we have to offer as a tourist destination?’ Are we really making the most of what Jersey has to offer? I would argue ‘no.’

You don’t have to look too hard or far to see that Jersey is more than just a financial centre.

There is plenty of scope for Tourism to develop and capitalise on the many Occupation installations around the Island for both inquisitive tourists and Second World War enthusiasts. Surely the Occupation is a significant part of the Island’s recent history.

Shouldn’t Tourism be doing more to fund, promote and support this, especially with the current 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War upon us? Are we not missing a trick here? After all, not every potential tourist wants to just sit on the beach and the weather is not always ideal for this.

There are plenty of other under-used local resources that could be more widely advertised and promoted, such as ‘Green Lane experiences’ (walks/cycles) and cliff-path rambles, to name but two.

Finally, having identified these natural local resources as potential tourist attractions, we then need to ask two crucial questions: ‘are we ready?’ and, in this ever competitive climate, ‘do we offer value for money?’ Or have we taken our ‘financial eye’ off that ball too?