Myra Shacklady, key accounts and marketing director, says the Island has now become a regular destination on some vessels’ itinerary and that the industry has continued to grow. Last year, a total of 15 vessels were scheduled to visit the Island but three failed to arrive because of the weather, a technical fault and for an operational reason.
And three other visits, from ships owned by Voyages of Discovery, were cancelled after the company went into administration.
Miss Shacklady said: ‘We have grown our numbers. Eleven years ago we only had one or two calls, whereas we had 15 scheduled last year. We would have had more but three calls had to be cancelled, as the company which owned the ship went into liquidation.
‘The volume of the ships has also got bigger. Whereas we had 3,000 passengers in 2016, we had 9,000 scheduled to visit last year. If the ship comes in, the passengers do get off.’
Last year Miss Shacklady announced that Ports of Jersey were working to compile a 25-year plan aimed at attracting more cruise ships to the Island.
‘Flexible pontoons’ based near Elizabeth Castle were listed among the ideas being considered at the time.
Miss Shacklady said that she did not wish to comment on the progress of the study but said that its findings would be released in the spring. She added: ‘There are some regular visitors to the Island. We have the Marco-Polo, Europa and P&O’s Pacific Princess – the third year that she has been with us.
‘They generally come from Southampton heading towards the Mediterranean or visit us on the way back and are very popular with Americans and Germans.’
The latest figures are in stark contrast to Guernsey, where a total of 105 ships are due to call – one of which, Brittania, is due to bring with it up to 4,324 passengers. A total of five are due to call in to Sark, three in Herm and three in Alderney.
According to an independent study carried out by Guernsey firm Island Global Research, the industry was worth around £4m to Guernsey in direct visitor spending in 2017.
Data collated in the same study revealed that the average spend per visitor was £36.46 and that 110,288 passengers came ashore.
According to Ports, the average spend per visitor in Jersey is £69, with crew spending an average of £90.
