Lack of ferry timetable hurting tourism - bosses

The lack of an inter-island ferry timetable is hurting the tourism and sports sectors, bosses have said.

Tim Crowley, chairman of the Visitor Economy Committee at the Jersey Chamber of Commerce, said package island holidays were not being advertised when they normally would be. The Jersey Sports Council said it wanted certainty over how long travelling sports teams could remain on shore.

DFDS said it was still finalising its schedule and it had been delayed during a legal challenge over the tender process by rival firm Brittany Ferries.

The Government of Jersey said ministers shared the views of the importance of inter-island ferry services to support the industries.

Mr Crowley said the tourism industry was "starting from the back foot" without a schedule.

"Right now, not having the certainty of the Channel Islands route is one thing, but the whole route not yet being on sale is a concern," he said.

"As the season goes on it'll have more and more of an impact - we would normally have these available last October, November and we're still here in January now with nothing on sale."

Hannah Beacom, chairwoman of the Guernsey Tourism Management Board, said the delay was "very worrying" for the tourism sector.

"At the moment there is a lot of provisional bookings on hold that can't convert to firm because those visitors cannot get to Guernsey by boat, if that's how they were choosing to travel, but they can't find a boat to get them here to the island," she said.

She hoped both governments and the ferry services could "make decisions quickly" so guests could book holidays.

"My real concern is we'll lose the start of the season - May is one of our busiest months... if this is not fixed fast we are going to lose a lot of opportunities," she said.

The Jersey Construction Council said inter-island travel and transport was "an important issue for all our members, especially those who work in both islands".

"We would ask Condor and DFDS to treat this matter with the urgency it demands and work with both islands authorities to make the necessary arrangements and issue timetables and costs without further delay," it said.

Ian Cuming, vice-chairman of the Jersey Sports Council, said the delayed timetable was also affecting the sports industry.

He said its sports teams needed weekend services with at least eight hours of time on shore to remain viable.

"I'm hoping that when the government does negotiate or discuss this with DFDS that that is taken in consideration because a short day won't work for sport," he said.

"At the moment, the only way to get across and play a game of sport and either island is by air, which I'm afraid for a lot of people is very, very expensive... we'd like to have a much more affordable way of getting between the islands to play our many different sports."

The Government of Jersey said it had been working with the States of Guernsey "over the past few weeks" and it was "due to meet again shortly" to speak on the issue.

"Discussions have also taken place with DFDS who are very supportive of inter-island travel links and have themselves held meetings with Jersey Sport to discuss the potential requirements," it said.

It said both governments were working with Manche Isles Express to "enhance inter-island connectivity".

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