rap #51 03/30/11

OCEAN COUNTY TOURISM ECONOMY VAULTS TO $3.4 BILLION

TOURISM REMAINS a lynchpin of Ocean County’s economy, pumping $3.4 billion into local businesses last year.

"We’ve found that despite a struggling national economy, people are coming to Ocean County and they are supporting our businesses," said Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari.

The $3.4 billion figure is up from $3.1 billion in previous years.

Vicari said the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders continues to support tourism initiatives and aggressively markets the county to visitors from both in and out of state.

"Every tourism dollar spent in Ocean County circulates seven times," said Vicari, who also serves as liaison to the county's Tourism Advisory Council. "Tourism creates more than 65,000 jobs every year in the county."

This year the Freeholders invested nearly $60,000 in 51 grants to help nonprofits and municipalities promote tourism events in 2011.

"Promotion is one key to attracting both new and previous visitors to the county," he said.

While Ocean County’s tourism numbers went up, not all New Jersey counties were so fortunate.

Several counties, including Atlantic and Burlington, saw a decline in tourism revenue.

Vicari said Ocean County is fortunate to boast the natural resources that attract visitors from around the nation and even from other countries.

"Protecting our environment and natural treasures has always been a priority of this Board of Freeholders," he said. "We our committed to preserving our miles of beaches, beautiful bays and acres of pristine woodlands so they can be enjoyed not only today, but for generations to come."

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