N.J. tourism on rebound

ATLANTIC CITY - New Jersey's $38 billion tourism business - the state's third-largest industry - may be back on a roll after posting a 7 percent revenue increase in 2011 over the year before.

And the particularly warm winter, which has attracted throngs of out-of-season visitors to the Jersey Shore, may extend the upward trend into the 2012 summer season, officials predict.

That dose of optimism, after relatively flat tourism numbers between 2008 and 2010, came in a keynote address by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno at the three-day 2012 New Jersey Tourism Industry Association conference last week at the Golden Nugget.

The figures posted Thursday represent visitor expenditures just shy of the all-time state high of $39.5 billion in 2007, Guadagno said, even counting last year's pre-Labor Day weekend evacuation of millions of Shore tourists under the threat of Hurricane Irene. Shore tourism, including Atlantic City gaming, accounts for a significant portion of New Jersey's annual vacation dollars.

"Who can forget the governor making national headlines with 'Get the hell off the beach.' Forty-eight hours later we told them to 'get the hell back on the beach' because it was Labor Day weekend," Guadagno said.

She tempered her humorous remarks by recalling the day soon after taking office two years ago when she made the grim announcement that the state would cut more than $2 million in tourism promotion funding.

But all that has changed. This year the state has committed $2.7 million for a spring/summer marketing campaign like "nothing anyone has seen before," she said.

In a newly formed alliance with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which will now handle the state's tourism promotion, Guadagno promised Shore promoters "a seat at the table" for planning around events such as the 2014 Super Bowl at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford or Wrestlemania.

"Tourism is a critical economic engine for New Jersey. Clearly 2011 was a good year for New Jersey's tourism industry," Guadagno said. "By working together we can build on last year's success and strengthen our reputation as a premier travel destination."

The warm weather seems to have lent a hand to that work this winter.

The months leading up to summer traditionally are a quiet time at the Shore, when year-round residents and businesses spruce up for the coming season when they can amid sporadic weather.

This winter, with strings of sunny days and temperatures running about 20 degrees above average, preparations have been moving at a decidedly faster pace than usual, according to Diane F. Wieland, director of the Cape May County Tourism Department.

Of the three southern Shore counties, Cape May County harbors the largest number of rental properties and second homes in the state.

There are tens of thousands of them and at least 13,000 summer rental properties in Ocean City alone, she said.

"We've come to realize that our second-homeowner market is a really strong one that supports our region year-round," Wieland said. "These are people who come down and utilize their vacation home in the winter, bring friends with them, and really look for things to do when they get here."

Visitors who formerly came to the Shore only in the summer now make a weekend out of searching for a rental.

"They realize that in the winter, there are great restaurants, shopping areas, and activities for them," Wieland said.

Even weekdays proved profitable for some businesses - such as the two-day event created when a dead fin whale washed ashore in January on the Seventh Street beach in Ocean City. The spot, adjacent to the Boardwalk, created large crowds during the sunny and warm Monday and Tuesday when officials worked to remove the huge carcass.

In the state's southernmost point of Cape May, merchants on the pedestrian Washington Street Mall reported double the usual foot traffic.

Susan Tischler, owner of the Kaleidoscope gift shop, said sales were up in February and so far in March by as much as 15 percent over last year at the same time.

John Cooke, a manager at the Victorian Motel, who also serves as president of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May, said overnight stays at his motel and elsewhere were up 10 to 15 percent over last winter.

In Cape May and elsewhere, by mid-February, the traditional time potential vacationers start touring rentals, more than half the stock of available homes was already gone.

For some businesses, the weather has meant nonstop work.

"The phone has been ringing off the hook with people wanting to get their boats in the water as early as possible this year," said Brian Hytner, business manager at the Sheltered Cove Marina in Tuckerton. "So we're really, really busy."

Sheltered Cove moved its annual open house up by about three weeks to March 24 to accommodate all the inquiries, Hytner said.

Besides special sales, the open house features safety classes, especially helpful to inexperienced boaters who plan to hit the high seas.

The state police issued a warning last week reminding boaters that while the ambient temperatures might be warmer than usual, the ocean is still quite chilly, hovering in the low 50s.

So far this year, state police haven't reported any cold-water-related deaths. In 2010 five fatal boating accidents occurred in New Jersey in March alone.

"We warn people that just because it's nice here on the mainland this time of the year, it's not a good idea to go out too far because the air temperature on the water is going to be significantly colder the farther you go out. And the water is still very cold," Hynter said.

Hytner's marina has had one minor incident involving a newbie boater who purchased a vessel at the Atlantic City boat show last month and - against better advice - wanted to immediately get out on the water.

"Nobody got hurt, but they quickly found out it was awfully cold out there and they panicked and had to be rescued," he said.