By Lauren Wanko
NJ Today
Bobby Rydell’s “Wildwood Days” is heard through the loudspeakers as tourists bike the boardwalk while the iconic tram car and the now famous message whiz by. At a glance, it’s as though Sandy never happened in the Wildwoods.
“Nobody can say we didn’t get damage, OK? We did not get damage along our beachfront and our ocean front which is where 90 percent of our business community is,” said John Siciliano, executive director of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority.
While other shore towns struggle to rebuild, the Wildwoods face a different challenge.
“There seems to be the underlying current of, ‘Hey, how are your beaches? Are you open?’ Like the question is still out there,” Siciliano said.
That’s why the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority spent $100,000 to combat post-Sandy misconceptions.
The Tourism Authority typically launches its summer ad campaigns now. This year, it rolled out their post-Sandy marketing plan March 1.
“We concentrated in the North Jersey-New York metro area,” said Siciliano. “It was billboards and cable TV to let the people that may not have been our normal feeder market, make them aware that we are here and that we are open.”
There are more than 300 businesses along the 2.2-mile stretch of boardwalk in the Wildwoods. Many of the business owners have high expectations for the summer, and they also predict they’ll see more tourists this season, like Banana’s Ice Cream Cafe owner Candice Gochenauer.
“I feel that we are going to be getting a lot of people who can’t be going to Seaside Heights this year, who can’t be going to Long Beach Island,” said Gochenauer.
On the boardwalk, Sunrise Surf Company Manager Howard Gilpin is already seeing a different set of customers. He said, “There’s a few people that are coming from Seaside because their beaches aren’t there anymore.”
Some local business owners say the Cape May County beach town is also attracting job-seekers.
“Some of the people from the areas that got hit are coming here for jobs because they don’t have a place to work right now,” said Snow White Restaurant owner Steve.
Snow White Restaurant hired three new seasonal employees who typically work in Ocean County. And it’s business as usual on Morey’s Piers. The amusement park suffered minimal damage, but they too are fighting misconceptions.
“We get lots of phone calls and we hear lots of folks asking if we’re still here, if we’re open, so yeah that’s a challenge and we wanna make sure everybody knows that in fact we are open fully,” said Geoff Rogers, vice president and CEO of Morey’s Piers.
Arcade owner Bob Depeso worries the pictures and video of the Seaside Heights roller coaster will affect the Wildwoods.
“I think that could be a problem. We’re fearful that many, many people think that the whole state was impacted,” said Depeso.
Other boardwalk business owners disagree.
“The pictures are clear that we didn’t have that kind of damage,” said Kate Tsakiris, owner of Harry’s Corner.
But there’s one thing business owners do agree on — they’re all banking on tourists coming to the shore for those “Wildwood Days.”