Tourism is a bright spot in a state still lagging the nation in recovering from the Great Recession, growing almost 4 percent last year. It generated some 316,000 new jobs and brought in more than $42 billion. The New Jersey Division of Tourism and Travel study demonstrates a strong tourism economy despite the loss of four casinos. President of the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association and Marketing Director for Steel Pier in Atlantic City Sharon Franz spoke with NJTV News Anchor Mary Alice Williams about what this summer season holds for New Jersey.
Franz says this year is shaping up to be a great summer with many events and promotions happening throughout the state and she expects tourism numbers to grow just as they did last year. However, firework displays for the Fourth of July are the center of attention this weekend.
“What I’m seeing and reading and hearing is there’s so many great firework displays that are going on this weekend. I know down in Atlantic City we have two spectacular shows that span over two days. They’re going to be 15 minutes long. One’s going to be done [Friday] night on the boardwalk side and then Saturday night it’s going to be done on the marina side so we’re excited about that,” she said. “There’s some great events happening down in the Long Beach Island region this weekend. Seaside, up and down the Jersey Shore, all the way up the way up to the northwest part of the state everybody’s having some great firework displays and events celebrating our great country.”
Six point six percent of New Jersey’s economy is based on tourism, however only part of that comes from the 127 miles of shore. The other part comes from various other regions throughout the state — such as the northwest and southwest regions, according to Franz. The popularity of campgrounds in the western parts of New Jersey have been an added boom to the tourism economy with camping up 20 percent this year.
“We have over 25,000 campgrounds in the state of New Jersey. I think it’s a trend that’s happening right now throughout the country. It’s called glamping — or the glamorous way of camping. We’re very excited to see those numbers and those numbers will grow as soon as the end of July comes when the Canadian market comes down here and visits. They’re very big campers also,” Franz said. She says the majority of the campgrounds can be found in Cape May and Atlantic counties, however the possibilities of what this weekend has to offer tourists are endless and cover all corners of the state.
“If you want to go down to the beach you go to Cape May and Atlantic County. If you like to go hiking, canoeing, kayaking, go up to the northwest region,” Franz said.