History of the Exit Surveys
Before 2016, Jersey used alternative data sources, including a compulsory visitor registration scheme and periodic exit surveys to estimate tourism volume and value.
July 2016: Visit Jersey introduced a continuous Visitor Exit Survey, with updated methodology and definitions to align Jersey’s figures with international practice. Fieldwork was outsourced, and analysis was conducted in-house.
2020: Statistics Jersey was contracted to run both fieldwork and analysis. Survey operations were suspended in March 2020 due to COVID-19 and did not resume until early 2022. Passenger numbers continued to be tracked, showing the pandemic’s significant impact on travel.
December 2021: 4Insight was appointed by Visit Jersey to conduct the Exit Surveys independently. Piloting occurred in February 2022, and full operations began in March 2022. By mid-2022, COVID-19 restrictions had eased, allowing adequate survey sample sizes across all major routes.
January 2025: The Exit Surveys methodology was refined to provide the most accurate possible reflection of visitor numbers. A new weighting approach was introduced to better account for flight scheduling and the balance between residents and visitors. While overall trends remain consistent, figures from 2025 are not directly comparable with those from previous years. Further information on the Exit Surveys methodology can be found here.
Minor adjustments to questionnaire wording and fieldwork procedures over time may affect direct comparability between years.
