Cape May Having Banner Season

CAPE MAY — If you find this historic seashore resort more crowded than usual, your perception is correct.
Parking meter revenue through July 31 is up 14 percent from 2010 while beach tag revenue has exceeded 2010 by 9.5 percent, according to City Manager Bruce MacLeod.
Beach tag sales as of the end of last month totaled $1.4 million, up from approximately $1.2 million, an increase of $122,287 from 2010.
Parking meter revenue totaled $538,792, up from $471,091, an increase of $67,701.
John Cooke, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May, told the Herald, hotels/motels and inns seem to be experiencing better than average occupancy. He said the Washington Street Mall is crowded.
Cooke points to a number of factors for a strong summer season including more sophisticated marketing from the chamber of commerce, media coverage of Cape May including stories in the Los Angeles Times and Trip Advisor ranking the city’s beaches as number two in the nation. The chamber sends an “e-newsletter” to 15,000 subscribers each month.
The chamber has partnered with the city’s Tourism Commission for publicity, he said.
Stories about Cape May have appeared in USA Today, Lancaster News and Harrisburg Magazine.
The television program “New Day Cleveland,” filmed an hour-long show about Cape May. Cooke said the program featured Cape May since it is within a day’s drive of Cleveland.
Higher gasoline prices have also helped Cape May since the city is one tank full of gas from New York City, Philadelphia and the Washington D.C. area, he said.
Some travelers are taking “staycations,” closer to home, said Cooke.
He said a parking valet from a local hotel told him he was seeing low mileage cars.
“To me that signifies that there is new money coming to Cape May,” said Cooke.
Cape May is seeing a healthy share of Canadian visitors, he said. The website “Citeboomers,” the Canadian equivalent of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), featured an extensive article about Cape May. Cooke, who runs the Victorian Motel, said he is having a “banner season.”