County, Quebec Marketing Readies for Fourth Decade in ‘10

CREST HAVEN — It was 1970, and Cape May County decided to market its vacation attractions in Canada, specifically in the Montreal, Quebec area.
The initial effort paid off. Countless Quebecois, provincial residents, read brochures and advertisements in French for the county’s motels, campgrounds and restaurants.
When it was freezing up north, and Canadians longed for a warm place to vacation, Cape May County’s wide sandy beaches with “warm” water, and an “easy” 10-hour drive down the New York Thruway to the Garden State Parkway, made it all the more alluring.
There was Wildwood, which held wide appeal to the mostly French-speaking vacationers.
Within a few years, Quebec license plates virtually filled the island on the last two weeks of July, when most factories closed for holiday.
That was before the first “gas crisis,” when county merchants hired a banner plane to circle a baseball stadium up north to tout the unknown fact — to Canadians — that Cape May County “had” gas.
Cape May County’s point man in Montreal was Pierre Payette, and for several years, he accompanied the reigning “Miss Quebec” on a weeklong whirlwind tour of Wildwood restaurants and night clubs. Photos of the crown holder were sent to newspapers in the Montreal area, and it played well to the folks back home.
Fast forward 40 years to 2010. Four decades past dismal economies and currency inequities that at times saw Quebec visitors getting a mere 65-70 cents in trade for their dollars.
Still, they came, some years more, other years less, but they came, welcomed by merchants here who realized the value of international vacationers.
At the freeholders’ meeting Sept. 22, they welcomed Nicolle Dufour, the county’s public relations consultant in Quebec.
Since 1995, the county Department of Tourism has hired her to wave the county’s vacation banner in print and on the airwaves.
“The efforts have paid off,” said Freeholder Leonard Desiderio. He said there had been a “resurgence in Canadian visitors.”
When the Sea Isle City mayor travels throughout the county, and spots those blue and white Quebec license plates in parking lots, at campgrounds and around other businesses, he is convinced Dufour is doing her job, and doing it well.
Diane Wieland, director, county Department of Tourism, shares Desiderio’s observations. She also told freeholders that the New Jersey Department of State had approved a $9,000 cooperative marketing grant to help the county mark its 40th anniversary of Canadian advertising in the Montreal region.
“We asked for $15,000, but we were happy to get $9,000,” said Wieland.
In the next breath, Wieland announced a $200,000 direct marketing grant, to which the county will add $50,000, and join with Cumberland County to jointly market the region’s tourism attractions next year.
“It’s 100 percent for ‘outer marketing,’ to bring people into the county,” said Wieland.
Canadians, she noted, are sought as vacationers because their average stay is from seven to 10 days, which increases their per-person expenditure.
In addition, most Quebec visitors “travel in groups,” said Wieland. That may be due to language limitations, with many speaking little or no English. It could also be that families and friends vacation together, whether in large recreational vehicles or small pop-up campers. For whatever reasons, that translates into renting four campground lots or motel rooms, not just one, said Wieland.
Cape May County’s public-private partnership to attract Canadian vacationers is due, in part, to the longstanding relationship between the county Department of Tourism and the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce, Wieland said.
Dufour translates many local brochures into French, said Desiderio.
“I want to thank her, and wish her much luck in promoting Cape May County for years to come,” said Desiderio.
Wieland noted that, because of Dufour’s standing with journalists and media outlets in Montreal, she estimated the county had garnered, last year, over a half million dollars in free publicity.
Touting the county’s vacation allure to Canadian neighbors is in the form of newspaper and magazine stories, and in brochures found in offices of the Canadian Automobile Association, northern counterpart of the American Automobile Association.
Wieland said Atlantic City recently hired a Canadian tourism representative.
“We are further ahead than they are. They don’t have a person like Nicolle who is as well regarded and well known,” said Wieland.
Dufour, who made the 10-hour trek to meet with freeholders and Wieland, said vacationers traveled to Cape May County “no matter what the economy, when there was not good dollar exchange, but they kept coming,” she said.
“You have everything here,” said Dufour of the county. She noted Virginia and Virginia Beach have been “very aggressive (in vacation marketing) for the last few years,” offering package deals and similar enticements.
“Now they sent a representative to Toronto, but Quebec not as much,” Dufour said.
The Carolinas have pitched their “great golf,” she added.
“You have great golf here. Make it known,” she urged.
She reminded the freeholders that the county was “a few hours closer” than Virginia or the Carolinas.
“Make it worth their while,” she urged merchants.
Wieland said Canadian visitors have to pay about $90 for a passport to enter the United States.
Because of that, she said the county is helping to market a special “passport savings” package of coupons, worth about $90 to offset the cost of the passport.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com