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You will have noticed the number of ads encouraging us to book up our 2025 summer holidays and we’ve only just got back to work from this year’s break. Trust me, it is only going to get worse on the ads too – if the ‘On the Beach’ with the annoying family return, I’ll be taking a holiday from my TV.
Trouble is,holiday organising – from the planning, to getting your leave forms in and either dodging or fitting in with the school holidays – takes up time.
Imagine, then, being the person with the challenge of sitting with a calendar and the tide times trying to sort out the ferry schedules for next year. You need to set the times and prices and work out which vessels you use.
Right now, this is complicated just a little further, with the added spice that you might not even be the ferry provided for next year.
Just to remind you: the current ferry tender isa decision that will rest on Jersey and Guernsey agreeing on who is awarded the contract – and the history of both islands marching in-step on transport decisions is not great.
The players are big players in the market, which is good – Brittany Ferries, DFDS and Irish Ferries. To be clear, Chamber is agnostic as to who should get the tender and are not party to what the requirements are or what the various tenders contain. Chamber just want whoever can provide the best service for the island and for the economy.
One thing those in the visitor industries know is that a fast ferry service is essential. The short-break market needs a fast ferry operation and any hiatus in that provision would be very challenging for our 2025 tourism bookings.
I understand the tender process is well underway for the bus operator contract in Jersey too with Liberty Bus, which is owned by Tower Transit, looking over their sister-island shoulder. CT Plus, also owned by Tower Transit, will be replaced by UK company Stagecoach South West in Guernsey from next April, which is when the new bus contract in Jersey will be awarded.
A tender process for key infrastructure suppliers is a huge is complex and full of risks for both the Government and the companies tendering. So, you should not underestimate the work involved in getting it right.
The current service agreement with Condor (Brittany Ferries) runs out after March 2025, which will likely mean selling tickets and holiday breaks for an unknown provider might not be great for forward bookings.
Whilst this must be a carefully made decision, every day waiting for our two governments to decide could hinder publishing the summer 2025 schedules, stunt potential investment, and hold up bookings, and make those employees feel less than stable – all of which is not great for the end users.
Well, by the time you read this, we could well have a decision made as to who our lifeline ferry company is or who our bus provider will be next spring.
Speaking to smaller businesses seeking procurement contracts, some say the time taken in the process is way slower than they would like, and those awaiting a planning decision say the same, as do some contractors in getting paid. Are businesses being unrealistic or is government process slowing up business from being more productive?
This article first appearing in the October edition of Connect Magazine which you can read in full below.
