Purpose

Agreeing to plan together

The product strategy will:

Lead 0

Lead, influence and manage all aspects of Jersey that contributes to the visitor’s experience.

Accountability 0

Take into account the needs of visitors, local stakeholders and the environment.

Define 0

Define the development needs and opportunities for the island following an evidence-based approach.

Serve 0

Serve as a shared statement of intent to achieve our ambition of reaching1 million visitors before 2030, spending £500m per annum.

Identify 0

Identify the key pillars of product development, informed through consultation with over 40 key industry stakeholders and the product audit.

Outline 0

Outline stakeholder roles and suggested actions.

A tourism product is what you buy,
an experience is what you remember.

Why

Productivity

  • Address fragmentation: Many organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors need to work together to deliver the island break experience.
  • Prioritise resource allocation: Identify what the real needs and priorities are, so that financial and human resources through the enhancement of the skillset can be deployed.

 

Competitiveness

  • Recognise, strengthen and coordinate different functions: The product strategy will define how to strengthen the quality of the visitor experience and profits of businesses.
  • Deliver societal benefits: Jersey becomes a better place to live, work and for attracting inward investment.
  • The competition is not standing still: We need to drive innovation to compete in the global market place.

 

Scope of Influence

Visit Jersey is a trusted advisor, sharing the voice of the customer, playing the role of facilitator, identifying and presenting the opportunity for the industry. Our role is to guide what good looks like as product guardian.

What’s in

  • Lodging (choices, experience, quality, value for money) – i.e. hotels, self-catering, AirBnb, camping
  • Event facilitation
  • Attractions & experiences
  • Hospitality (food & drink) – i.e. fine dining, pub culture, pop-ups
  • Visitor information
  • Entry & exit points
  • Accessibility
  • Tourism Development Fund
  • Transport on-island
  • Public realm – i.e. infrastructure, public space, signage, parking
  • Wi-fi

What's out

  • Investment in and delivery of infrastructure – i.e. runway, conference centre, cruise terminals*
  • Event management & delivery
  • Regulatory control*

Deliverables

Align the product to the promise

The brand promise provides a platform to strengthen our visitor economy. It’s time for the product to better deliver the promise.

  • Work with our on-island supplier base, mobilise ‘Team Jersey’.
  • Help foster a forward looking view, continually driving product improvement.
  • Grow the visitor economy through a partnership-led approach (i.e. tier-led).
  • Raise productivity by developing a year-round visitor economy.
  • Position Jersey as an inclusive visitor destination.

The Product Challenge

Relentless Ambition

  • Opportunity to better utilise resources, to improve seasonality and boost sector output, by accommodating visitors outside of peak months.
    • Consider the role played by events-led tourism;
    • Seek to close product gaps identified in the product audit; and
    • Support appropriate Tourism Development Fund and commercial investment.
  • Take to market the most relevant and engaging features of Jersey in a more expressive way, achieving synergy across the marketing and trade functions. With a partnership-led approach, we can revitalise appetite for product investment.
  • Focus on the factors which motivate and inspire holiday destination choice by packaging up ‘Signature Experiences’.
  • Increase the required tourism skillset among the resident population, including
    improved usage of available digital infrastructure.

Mobilise 'Team Jersey'

At the heart of every memory is a passionate business owner.

  • Inspire tourism businesses to have the capabilities and opportunities to capitalise on increased interest and deliver remarkable experiences.
  • Invite partners to join a ‘product action group’. Stakeholders such as the Jersey Hospitality Association, the Jersey Retail Association, the Jersey Attractions Group, Digital Jersey, Jersey Business, will:
    • Agree opportunity development;
    • Oversee the implementation of the strategy; and
    • Inform future direction.
  • Meet once per year to review the proposed product programme of work.
  • Establish smaller sub-groups to agree tasks and deliver in-practice.
  • A collective transition towards the experience economy will be synonymous with our collective success.

Product Action Group

Proposed Stakeholders

As product champions the Product Action Group will guide, agree & shape priorities for the strategy.

Stakeholder
1. Visit Jersey / Events Jersey 9. JP Restaurants
2. Jersey Business 10. Jersey Heritage
3. Jersey Hospitality Association 11. Jersey National Park
4. Ports of Jersey 12. Jersey National Trust
5. Jersey Attractions Group  13. Liberty Bus
6. Jersey Retail Association  14. Department of Infrastructure
7. Luxury Jersey Hotels 15. Case study i.e. Visit Kent
8. Morvan Hotels & Self-Catering

Deliver Lasting Memories

A customer centric approach

  • Working with the Product Action Group, Visit Jersey will focus on refreshing existing and building new tourism experiences to help improve competitiveness.
  • To help the world fall in love with Jersey, we invite industry suppliers to deliver programmes aligned with what visitors are interested in experiencing.
  • Experiential tourism may not be for all suppliers – and that’s okay. This is the opportunity to increase business profits and deliver a sustainable, competitive advantage.

Our Signature Experiences

One small island. So many stories. Our product needs to reflect the abundance of colour and vibrancy of Jersey’s stories through the seasons.

The opportunity exists for tourism suppliers and operators to deliver on our brand’s promise. Through our experiences, we need to highlight the power the island has to refresh and revitalise, reconnect and rediscover. Jersey is not for the old. Or for the young. Or any particular age range. Our tourism experiences need to celebrate inclusivity. Research tells us there are key areas of interest when it comes to what visitors are looking for when holidaying:

• Time to relax
• Destination offers good value for money
• Spending quality time with family and friends
• The attractiveness of the scenery and landscape

For that reason, the island break will be supported by core ‘Signature Experiences’. These will be rolled out (Appendix I) by working with key supplier groups responding to gaps identified by the product audit.

Get Match Fit

Inform, educate and work alongside partners.

The Brilliant Basics Experiential Tourism Development Say hello to your best customer Build your business with the travel trade & OTAs Build your business in the shoulder season
Optimise your business profile with the Brilliant Basics programme:

1. MyListing
2. Social media & imagery
4. The value of STR
5. The evolution of accreditation
6. Event toolkit
7. Accessible Jersey

 

 

Help businesses build knowledge and excitement for creating
experiential tourism opportunities.Curate a toolkit with tools, case studies and checklists which
aid suppliers’ efforts to create compelling experiences.
Understand who Jersey’s best prospects are and what they want
from the island break.Establish a programme with the Jersey Attractions Group,
Jersey Business, the Jersey Hospitality Association and the
Jersey Retail Association which assists in identifying and serving
Jersey’s best customers.
Destination Jersey will present an opportunity for on-island suppliers to understand the value of working with travel trade professionals.Use the event as a platform to showcase new Jersey inventory,
leveraging powerful influencers, promoting key experiences and
Events Jersey.
Develop a toolkit designed to help
businesses better understand Jersey’s year-round opportunity
and the benefits of expanding operations.At Destination Jersey, host a dedicated seminar with coaching
and case studies.

 

The Revitalise Programme

Partnership-led product development

  • Effective, strategically aligned stakeholder engagement presents opportunity for the sharing of resources to address challenges and identify new opportunities.
  • In partnership with the Jersey Hospitality Association and Jersey Business, create a pilot programme, funded by the Enterprise & Growth Fund.
  • Work with two/three key pilot accommodation partners to revitalise their business and shape product development requirements based on the needs of our best prospects.
  • Generate success stories which build momentum, evidencing the value of the programme.
  • Extend the programme into other product areas i.e. retail, attractions etc.
Reasons

Visit Jersey to outline the tourism productivity opportunity for industry. Present a research-informed case, sharing best practice case study examples from competitor destinations (i.e. seasonality).

 

Relevancy

Jersey Hospitality Association identify prospective partners which correspond to the product gap to drive industry engagement & secure the buy-in of two/three key partners.

 

Response

Jersey Business to deliver the programme, outlining financial modelling, demonstrating where efficiencies can be made and providing practical guidelines on
partner investment.

Supplier Partnership Programme

Better distribute brand Jersey in 2018 and beyond.

  • Our three-tiered supplier partnership programme helps suppliers on-island amplify their profile through Visit Jersey’s consumer marketing channels.
  • The programme will be reviewed annually to ensure relevancy, effectiveness and support future growth.
  • The 2017 programme currently has 26 ‘Stay’ and ‘See & Do’ partners subscribed at a gold/silver tier. With high demand, criteria to participate in the programme should consider the tourism supplier’s product and market fit to deliver the ambitions of the island break, and willingness to participate in our full range of opportunities i.e. STR Global (hotel market data & benchmarking), joint content marketing.
  • Looking ahead to 2018… The evolution of the programme should consider the role of trade partners in playing a role in packaging up Signature Experiences. The programme should be developed to incorporate ‘Eat & Drink’ and ‘Retail’ partners. In partnership with Events Jersey, Visit Jersey will launch an events based programme.

The Role of Events

Inspire events which celebrate the island break

  • Visit Jersey will provide expertise, guidance, support and leadership, through the Events Jersey strategy.
  • Jersey’s event profile will serve to ‘fill’ the island in the shoulder seasons.
  • Core events which reflect our Signature Experiences will be delivered, as well as a range of business events which align with our core industrial sectors (finance, digital, tourism, agriculture).
  • High profile one-off events i.e. Digital Tourism Think Tank will be acquired and mega events i.e. Super League Triathlon which complement the core portfolio and have been attracted to Jersey by its unique appeal as a destination will be retained.
  • These events act as a springboard. They present opportunities to promote Jersey before, during and after reaching new visitors in target markets and reigniting the island’s appeal. Events can provide and showcase the island break welcome, promoting the wider messages and interests of Jersey.

Delivering an Events Strategy

Our mission

  • A partnership-led approach, working with bodies such as Sports Jersey, Genuine Jersey and Destination Management Companies will support Events Jersey in bidding for key events.
  • Research will be undertaken to benchmark Jersey’s performance against competitor destinations and to analyse and explore key trends.
  • Opportunities, experiences and education as to the Events Jersey proposition will ensure that impact and legacy are delivered on an ongoing basis.
  • Events provide a platform for media, marketing, engaging the travel trade and on-island supplier community.
  • Develop the resources required for successful events-led tourism i.e. website, case studies, toolkits and highlight tourism opportunities.

Our Welcome

The Personal Touch

  • The pride and passion of our islanders is an opportunity to inspire even more visitors to discover Jersey.
  • Whether taxi drivers, front desk concierge or the personal touch of the local community, our openness to share local hidden gems and go the extra mile in the welcome we offer, is central to delivering on our ambition.
  • A campaign will position local ambassadors who welcome our visitors across our key product verticals i.e. Richard Stevens, Jersey Seafaris, Hugo de Castro, Grand Hotel & Spa (best concierge in the British Isles). They will celebrate what a local welcome is about and provide content-led destination training.
  • The ‘Airbnb Effect’ connects visitors with unique product inventory. Explore a campaign which inspires homeowners to welcome visitors in their home on Airbnb and host local experiences.

Increase The Skillset

Inspire the next generation of visitor economy employees.

  • In partnership with Highlands College, the Jersey Hospitality Association and the Jersey Attractions Group, inspire the professional development of locals to consider tourism and
    hospitality as a career of choice.
  • Get kids out of the classroom. Explore an apprenticeship scheme hosted by the Jersey Attractions Group and the Jersey Hospitality Association members.
  • Present diversity of the sector. Develop a campaign sharing the voice of influential industry leaders to attract and nurture talent from school leavers to second-careers.
  • Industry disrupters. Katy Pierce (MOO), Marcus Calvani (BeServed), Debbie Vautier (De Normandie/R Fresh), Fiona Kerley (JHA/The Ommarroo) will be invited to lead as ambassadors.
  • Through our tourism charter, gain recognition about the important and significant contribution of the sector in stimulating economic diversity.

Measurement

Evaluating the product development contribution.

  • Evaluating the number of new product developments on island fails to assess the contribution made by Visit Jersey, nor adequately captures the quality of the experiences delivered.
  • Set measurable benchmarks for our tourism industry on what constitutes a high-quality visitor experience i.e. alignment with our Signature Experiences, open in the shoulder seasons, resonates with the key motivators, memorable/authentic etc.
  • Consumer-based measurement via the exit survey will measure Net Promoter Score and overall sentiment towards different aspects of the product offer. A question to those who have visited recently, via the brand tracker, could measure ‘return on emotion’.
  • Trade-based measurement could explore the contribution made by Visit Jersey in sharing best practice and presenting opportunities for product development. The Ecorys Survey will be integral to evaluation.

Deliverables & Timescales

Considerations

  • 3 year strategy to inspire continual investment in product development.
  • Quick wins identified as priorities for 2018 vs. longer-term deliverables.
  • Additional people and financial resource (£100,000+), requirements in 2019/20.
  • Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture and other Government departments have significant roles too.