Amid concerns about the economy, immigration, and fewer Canadian tourists, there’s a lot of uncertainty at the Jersey Shore about whether it will be a lucrative summer season.
One expert who closely follows the Shore economy said there are also a few factors pointing in business’ favor for a “reasonably good” summer.
Oliver Cooke, associate professor of economics at Stockton University and author of an annual forecast for the Shore, said air travel has become more expensive and Newark Liberty International Airport continues to deal with more flight delays and cancellations. That may mean more people instead will be picking the Shore for their vacations.
“When we’ve seen very high gas prices in previous summers, people oftentimes end up kind of substituting local vacations, something at the Shore as opposed to flying,” Cooke said. “This year, I think it’s a little bit more kind of ambiguous. Air prices are already kind of down.”
Ashleigh Menonna is the manager for Jersey Roll and the Lobster Lounge in Seaside Heights, and she said she’s hiring now and hopes airline struggles will mean more customers.
“I can hope, because then they’ll drive down to us instead of fly other places,” she said. “But I would assume that that’s going to impact some things.”
Still, Canadian tourists usually common for the Shore are expected to be in shorter supply due to President Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric toward our northern neighbor. According to Ben Rose, director of marketing and public relations for the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority, Canadian visitors used to comprise 10-12% of the total summer visitors there. Cape May even kept a tourism office in Montreal.
Still, Rose said he expects visits to be made up elsewhere and a record tourism season overall. “Latino families are the fastest growing segment of our population. They’re about 17-19% of the total population and growing,” he said. “That should make up for the shortfall in Canadian visitors.”
Rose said the Wildwoods have increased their Spanish-language marketing over the last few years, and they have attracted Spanish-speaking families from Connecticut, upstate New York and Maryland.
