Tourism in Jersey started in the early 19th century, when inquisitive, affluent Englishmen and women began to travel, and were happy to endure a journey by horse-drawn coach followed by a Channel crossing in a sailing vessel to discover the delights of Britain's most southerly islands.
The number of visitors grew dramatically with the advent of steamers offering regular services from south coast ports which were soon linked to cities throughout the land by the fast-growing rail network, and in the early 20th century the island was already coming to rely on experienced workers from Germany and other European countries to staff the growing number of hotels.
After effectively closing down from 1914 to 1919, the industry again grew strongly in the years before the Second World War, and then in the 1950s, it exploded into life, thanks mainly to the availability of flights to Jersey Airport from throughout the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.
