By Lauren Wanko
NJ Today
It was a quiet summer at Amethyst’s Beach Motel. Business was off by about 40 percent.
“We dropped rates on top of the occupancy being down,” said Amethyst’s Beach Motel owner John Fernicola.
And a new Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press poll indicates it was quiet summer for the Jersey Shore. Thirty-eight percent of New Jerseyans spent less time down the shore this season than they normally do, a big drop from the 96 percent in June who said they typically visit the shore and planned on returning this summer.
“I think the reason why a lot of people didn’t come is I don’t think they realized that we were really ready for business. There’s also a lot of houses that still aren’t done,” said Carleen Rega, an employee at The Beach Shack.
Diane Turton Realtors General Manager John Meechan says the seasonal rental market was off by 20 to 30 percent. Vacationers typically book their summer rentals around Thanksgiving.
“They knew they wanted to come back to the Jersey Shore, but they weren’t sure if the town would be ready for them. A lot of the homes, a lot of the pictures in the press really slowed down that decision so that moved a lot of families to say Cape Code and the Carolinas and even Delaware and Maryland,” Meechan said.
Motel owner Fernicola insists the state missed an opportunity to keep more families vacations in New Jersey this summer.
“I think we could have used a tax abatement. I think we could have incentivized people coming here rather than going to Ocean City, Maryland by suspending the lodging and sales tax for a season,” Fernicola said.
Summer rentals were down about 30 percent at Fortee’s Real Estate Agency. Low inventory was another factor to blame as landlords struggled to rebuild.
“I’ve seen a great downturn in the economy here at the beach as opposed to past years just by the amount of people that have rented. This year they have not,” said Fortee’s Real Estate Agency owner Audrey Tesauro.
This summer the state launched a tourism campaign — Stronger Than The Storm — featuring Gov. Chris Christie and his family. Some business owners questioned the commercial’s effectiveness.
“I think the marketing — Stronger Than The Storm — the association of the word storm with trying to draw people back to the area that was affected, I think that was counter-intuitive,” Fernicola said.
So will families who flocked farther north or south this past summer return to the Jersey Shore?
“I think there may be some people that were scared away but time kind of heals all wounds and they’re gonna make their way back here,” said Bain’s Point Hardware Manager Chad Gingras.
Shore communities along the coast launched fall promotional campaigns and now that autumn has arrived, business owners are hoping potential visitors get that message. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen.