Drop in visitor spend blamed on travel disruption
BBCVisitors to Jersey spent £24m less last year than in 2024 due to travel disruption, the government has said.
In a progress report on the success of its £20m scheme to support businesses with the transition to the living wage, the government said the total visitor spend for 2025 was £37m below its annual target.
The report said visitor spending failed to meet the target due to "connectivity disruption" linked to the appointment of Jersey's new ferry provider.
Elsewhere, the report found the government had met or exceeded its targets related to boosting business productivity and competitiveness.
The report said: "Visitor spending was affected by low levels of UK consumer confidence and a delay to ferry tickets going on sale.
"This was due to a legal challenge made against the government's award to a new ferry operator contract."
In 2024, the government awarded a 20-year contract to Danish firm DFDS to provide the island's passenger and freight ferry services.
This decision was delayed due to the breakdown of a joint Jersey and Guernsey tender process and was unsuccessfully challenged by French ferry firm Brittany Ferries.
Key areas of success related to business productivity were highlighted in the report including:
- 183 local businesses received grant funding in 2025.
- For every £100 of grant funding, there was £140 of private investment.
- 431 apprentices were registered in Jersey in 2025, within the annual target of 400 to 450.
The government also identified key measures of success for increased business competitiveness. These were largely related to tourism, such as:
- Investment in the Bergerac TV series influencing 9% of visitors travelling to the island (42,000 people).
- The average length of visitor stay increased to 4.6 nights in 2025, which was 12% above target.
The report added that it had supported 247 low-income workers without five years' residency with one-off payments.
These payments totalled £72k, significantly below the maximum allocated spend of £300k.
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