Avalon’s 7MBCA Awarded State Marketing Grant

AVALON — The 7 Mile Business Community Association has secured a marketing grant from the New Jersey Department of Travel and Tourism for the 2014 tourism season. This is the sixth consecutive year that the association has obtained funding for promotion of the 7 Mile Beach community. To date, the 7MBCA has secured more than $87,000 in funding from the State of New Jersey to assist with tourism promotion and special events. The grant for 2014 totals $19,500.
“The Association is deeply appreciative of this latest grant that will enable us to promote Avalon while creating lasting partnerships in the community,” said Jacqueline Ewing, president of the 7MBCA. “Competition for the funding is highly competitive and this latest grant will greatly assist us in promoting the local area and New Jersey generally as a premier tourism destination along the East Coast.”
The 7 Mile Business Community Association partners with the Borough of Avalon and the Avalon Chamber of Commerce on various internal and external marketing strategies. The 7MBCA partnered with the chamber to develop www.visitavalonnj.com, a state-of-the-art tourism website. Funding also has been used for a highly successful mobile app, and distribution of the popular “Indulge in Avalon” brochure throughout more than 100 co-op members’ businesses in Avalon and at rest stops on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike.
“The New Jersey Department of Travel and Tourism has been a generous supporter of the tourism promotion efforts in Avalon,” Ewing said. “The focus of the 7MBCA’s strategic marketing plan is to feature Avalon as a tourism destination beyond the summer season and to create special events that will bring families to our community.”
The 7 Mile Business Community Association has created and executed many successful events in Avalon that attract tourists after the summer months. Avalon’s “Festive Friday” celebration is held annually the day after Thanksgiving and provides dozens of free family events throughout the Avalon business district. In 2013, “Festive Friday” will be followed by “Snowfest Saturday” in Avalon, a free winter festival complete with carnival games, rides, prizes and attractions for children of all ages. The “Shop-A-Holics” shopping extravaganza the first weekend in March has become a wildly successful spring event.
Following Superstorm Sandy, the 7MBCA stepped its marketing into high gear with an aggressive plan to bring visitors back to Avalon and the Jersey Shore. An ambitious television schedule featuring Avalon as “open for business” and a premier tourism destination aired on an NBC affiliate in New York City, reaching millions of potential visitors.
“Tourism and special-event marketing is all about creating successful partnerships with your individual businesses, your chamber and your community,” Ewing said. “The 7MBCA appreciates the support from the Borough of Avalon and the Avalon business community with the successful use of grant funding generously provided by the New Jersey Department of Travel and Tourism.”
The 7 Mile Business Community Association is a business co-op founded in 2008 and composed of more than 100 Avalon storefronts, including lodging, retail, spas, realtors and restaurants. The board of directors includes Jacqueline Ewing, Lynda Pagliughi, Kathleen Wierzbicki, Kathleen Makowski, Monica Coskey, Pary Tell and Whitney Kotzman.