In her small souvenir shop overlooking one of the first arteries of Saint-Helier that you take when you get off the ferry, Mary has seen it: for more than two and a half years, the “Frenchies” have been made much rarer. If the Covid obviously scared away the majority of tourists, Brexit did not at all encourage the Tricolores to return.
The reason is purely administrative. On October 31, 2021, when England officially left Europe, the passport became mandatory to travel to Jersey from Normandy or Brittany. A document that the French very rarely take with them (when they have one!) when they come on vacation to these regions, where the excursion to the Channel Island has always been only a activity among others, between a trip to the beach and a visit to the museum or the aquarium, requiring nothing more than an identity card.
Everything has therefore changed and the ferries departing from Saint-Malo, in particular, have experienced a severe drop in attendance, dropping from 450,000 annual passengers to 210,000. Advance the outward and return to the day, they are only about 30,000 compared to 100,000 when the British Crown still sparkled within the European Union. “In the spring, there are often works councils or groups of seniors on vacation in Saint-Malo, and it is enough that, out of the forty people, one or two do not have a passport and that’s it the group which can no longer travel, so the Jersey destination was no longer even offered for sale”, observes Xavier Havez, general manager of Condor Ferries Morvan.
From April 22, the French (and only them) can return to the day with a simple identity document. A piece of news that sparked real enthusiasm on this confetti less than an hour and a half of navigation from the French coast. Near the little tourist train, Larry is already rubbing his hands. “It’s beautiful, a very good idea!” welcomes this ticket seller in his hut offering guided tours. Not far away, Suzy releases a “fantastic” sound at the checkout of this Marks
It is for them, in particular, that Helen Miles, the island’s interior minister, lifted this obligation. “Certainly all nationalities must have a passport to come here, but we realized that most French people often only have an identity card on them, and since Brexit, that has been a real concern, we lost up to 70% of French visitors. That’s why we changed the system! Above all, we have a great history with our Breton and Norman friends: French heritage is omnipresent here, the streets bear French names, and we have very strong cultural and economic ties. »
For the time being, this passport constraint has been removed for a period of five months and only concerns day visitors (French). But if the test proves conclusive, then this exception could be made permanent and extended to longer stays.
