AVALON – Cape May County may soon surpass Atlantic County as New Jersey’s top county generator of tourism dollars, according to Jeffrey Vasser, executive director, New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism.
Vasser spoke to a gathering of Cape May County Chamber of Commerce members May 24. He shared in detail the exciting trajectory of tourism in New Jersey. The statistics were a result of the state’s annual Tourism Economic Study released in early May.
Cape May County generated over $6.6 billion in tourism revenue in 2021. Vasser pointed out how close those numbers are to pre-pandemic levels. He also highlighted how the number stacks up statewide.
“Atlantic County, for years, had just been far above any other county in their tourism spending. You’re on a trend to surpass them pretty soon,” Vasser said to the room full of county business leaders.
According to Vasser, 10% of tourists in New Jersey visit Cape May County, but it’s where 18% of all tourism dollars in the state are spent. This spending translated into a 29% increase in year-over-year employment in 2021. This increase reflects the anemic tourism in the 2020 summer; nevertheless, it’s the quickest tourism employment recovery in the state.
Visitor spending in 2021 was only down 4% in revenue from 2019, the biggest spending year in the past decade. Though the numbers have not yet fully stabilized, the county’s loss in revenue is the smallest. The tourism sector across New Jersey has been more sluggish; some counties are still down over 30% from pre-pandemic tourism spending.
“The projection is that we’re going to return to 2019 levels in two years,” said Vasser.
To assist in promoting tourism in the county, the Division of Travel and Tourism has passed along federal grant money to regional and local destination marketing organizations, including a 58% increase in funding for the Cape May County Department of Tourism.
The only thing missing from Vasser’s presentation was any bad news for Cape May County. Words like ‘tremendous,’ ‘exciting’ and ‘growth’ dominated the morning.
“It’s a great testament to everybody who works in tourism in this area,” Vasser said.
He also heralded the near doubling of his state agency’s budget from $9 million to $17.6 million. His team is working to promote tourism to New Jersey up and down the East Coast, especially to those who are relatively close to the state.
“People would rather drive. We’re a tank of gas from a third of the U.S. population. It’s true, and we should work that to our advantage,” Vasser suggested.
To contact Alec Hansen, email ahansen@cmcherald.com.
