Governance Structures for Tourism in Small Island Economies

Case Study: Jersey, Channel Islands

Location of
Jersey, Channel
Islands
 Geography
• Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands
at 118km sq.
• 22km from NW coast of France and 137km
from England
• Population of 97,857

Politics
• Jersey is a British Isle
• It is a Crown Dependency and is NOT part
of the UK
Location of • Autonomous government – ‘States of
Jersey, Channel Jersey’
Islands
Economy
• Financial services as the dominant industry,
followed by tourism and agriculture
(Source: States of Jersey Statistics Unit, 2011)
Traditional Seaside Resort

St Brelade’s Bay
Beach experience

St Ouen’s Bay
Rural experience
Urban Experience

St Helier, Jersey
Heritage Sites

Mont Orgueil Castle

Jersey’s Tourism in 2010
• 689,700 visitors
• £230 million on-island visitor spend
• Hotels, Restaurants and Bars - 3.5% contribution to GVA
(States of Jersey Statistical Unit, 2011)

• Mature tourist destination, experiencing decline

• Traditional seaside resort – ‘bucket and spade’
• Needs radical change:
• Attract a more ‘cosmopolitan’ audience
• Best hope is in the short breaks market
• Hotels that are attractions in their own right
• Emphasise the quality of the food offer
• Offer quality urban, countryside and beach experiences
(Locum Consultancy, 2006)
Present Governance Structure for
Jersey Tourism

• Jersey’s tourism marketing department is ‘Jersey Tourism’

• States of Jersey ‘Economic Development Department’ remit

• £5.923 million(37%) of the entireEDD net revenue expenditure

budget is allocated to the tourism sector for 2012
(States of Jersey, 2011)
A Public-Private Partnership for
Jersey’s Tourism Marketing – The Proposal

Structure:
• The PPP would be a relationship between EDD and the industry

• Mixed public-private sector ‘Tourism Board’, led by an independent

Chairman appointed by EDD

Funding:
• Initial funding from EDD, with subsequent funding dependent on the PPPs
ability to generate private funding

• Funding from corporate contributions, direct income, joint marketing

activities

• The PPP would not benefit from centralised EDD support (HR, finance, IT)
A Public-Private Partnership for
Jersey’s Tourism Marketing – 6 key Objectives

1. To harness industry leading expertise

2. To work with EDD and other States departments to ensure government

policy fully supports growth of the sector

3. To generate industry funding to add to Government investment

4. To operate more commercially

5. Generate a stronger sense of partnership

6. To operate with a private sector culture and deliver quicker and more
effective decision making
‘What is clear is that, whilst there are many
different organisational models from which
Jersey could learn, our circumstances are unique
and will require a specific Jersey solution’
(EDD, 2009:8)
 Methodology
Pilot Study: Data collection phase 1
The ‘Jersey case’:
• Unusual political, economic & social characteristics
• Applicability of findings to other similar SIEs

Data collection method:

• Telephone interviews of between 30 and 60 minutes
• Secondary data includes government documents, feasibility studies, consultancy reports,
newspaper articles, blog posts etc.

Sample:
• 5 x key respondents – Jersey travel, accommodation and hospitality reps

Limitations:
• Timing of the data collection coincided with confidential talks

Considerations:
• Anonymity of the respondents
• ‘Insider’ status of the researcher
The Findings: ‘a marketing organisation
does not sit well in a civil
Why a PPP for Jersey Tourism? service department. The
two cultures are, to me,
entirely different…’
‘to create a more
commercially focused
organisation…’
‘drive money to the
sales end and away
‘Hiring and firing
from the back
would be that much
office…’
easier…’

‘I absolutely don’t
think they’re ‘Use experienced and
[Jersey Tourism] specialist professionals to
are accountable execute the strategy as
enough…’ opposed to generalists…’
The Findings:
Obstacles to the PPP? ‘Obviously, there are
significant additional
costs…’
‘there were clearly going to
be some major problems
devolving staff from a
government run civil service
department into a
commercial organisation…’ ‘It’s quite difficult, firstly, to get the
sector together, and then secondly
it’s quite difficult to get them to
agree on anything!’

‘it has just simply not

received the political ‘It has been more about
drive to drive it to maintaining the status quo…’
completion…’
The Findings:
Obstacles to the PPP – ‘islandness’?
‘but there is a genuine concern that
finance is so important in terms of the
economic activity in Jersey that it’s
always going to divert focus and
funds…’
‘It’s a bit of an odd thing in Jersey that
‘I suppose the closeness of
individuals within
government to the private
sector is an issue, yes…’
‘There is no doubt that in a
geographic area of 45sq. miles
you’re obviously much more
aware of everything that’s going
on that you might be if you were
in 450,000 sq. miles…’
you write two letters to the Jersey
Evening Post and then that changes
government policy…’
 ‘Islandness’ as an obstacle to PPP?

Competition
Personalised with the Small island
Collaboration
politics finance mentality
industry
Does this sound familiar… ?

Small island comparative study… ?

Any questions?

Thank you! 