Minister Targets 500,000 Annual Visitors for Revamped Fort Regent

The Infrastructure Minister has said the redeveloped Fort Regent must attract around half-a-million visitors a year if it is to meet expectations following its £110 million overhaul.

Constable Andy Jehan outlined his ambitions for the landmark site during a quarterly hearing with the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel on Tuesday.

“Expects and requires”

In response to questions from panel chair Deputy Hilary Jeune about projected visitor numbers, Mr Jehan said he both “expects and requires” annual footfall of approximately 500,000 people.

To illustrate the scale of that target, the minister compared it with cinema attendance, which he said typically ranges between 160,000 and 180,000 visits a year. He did not specify whether those figures referred directly to Jersey’s Cineworld.

Mr Jehan said the Fort’s target was realistic, pointing to the variety of attractions planned for the site. “When you factor in leisure uses such as the concert hall alongside other events and facilities, reaching half-a-million visits annually is achievable,” he said.

The comments follow last week’s approval by politicians of the government’s three-year spending programme, which includes a request to borrow £43 million to fund major works in the first phase of the Fort Regent redevelopment.

During the hearing, the minister was also asked whether any assessment had been carried out to understand the impact if visitor numbers fall short of expectations.

Mr Jehan replied that the 500,000 figure is a broad estimate and has not yet been broken down by individual facilities or amenities. However, he referred to data from a recent St Helier footfall report for wider context.

That report showed that just over 391,000 visits were recorded in the parish during November, while total footfall for the year ending 30 November 2025 stood at 18.8 million — a decrease of 7.6% compared with the previous year.

It was confirmed last month that the refurbished Fort Regent is still scheduled to open on 31 December 2028.

A formal planning application for the removal and replacement of the site’s distinctive white roof is expected to be submitted by the end of this month, with construction work hoped to begin in June next year. A separate, site-wide planning application is due to follow on 31 March 2026.