Tourism and Asbury Park

Friends of Asbury Park:

In the past day or so a number of people have been posting to one of the local listserves here in Asbury Park about tourism and our City. In light of what has been written, and also in light of the new life Madison Marquette has brought to our waterfront, I thought I would repost a portion of “The Keady Report” from January 2006 that speaks to this topic. I offer it to keep alive the current conversation about refocusing our efforts to establish Asbury Park as THE premier tourist destination on the Jersey Shore. As you read, I ask you to take particular note of the statistic about accommodations. Asbury Park will need hotels and guest houses to capture these tourist dollars. A bedroom condo community will not serve this purpose.
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Re-focusing on Tourism
In preparations for the January 27th meeting with Asbury Partners I did some cursory research on tourism in New Jersey. I undertook this research because in my gut I just did not believe the argument that Asbury Partners and our own Redevelopment Attorney, Jim Aaron, were making that “retail redevelopment must always be preceded by significant residential development for it to be successful.” This was one of the defenses for Asbury Partners lack of action on the boardwalk properties. They were basically saying that there needed to be more people living near the boardwalk to make the properties commercially viable. I did not buy it when they first said it and now that I have some numbers to back up my gut feeling, I am quite confident in my position.

The simple fact is that we have one mile of beautiful beaches and that if we create a safe, attractive boardwalk, there will be more than enough tourism to support the investments made to redevelop the Pavilions, Conventional Hall, the Paramount Theater and the Casino Complex.

To support my case, here are some facts from the NJ Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission.

* The economic impact of the Travel and Tourism Industry in New Jersey contributes $30 billion dollars in economic activity each year and creates 416,000 jobs.

* In 2003, 65 million people visited New Jersey and tourism generated $2.9 billion in state and local government revenues.

* Of the dollars spent on tourism in New Jersey, accommodations account for the largest share (37%), followed by food (26%), shopping (16%), transportation (10%) and entertainment (7%).

* Nowhere is the impact of the Travel and Tourism industry more evident than at the JERSEY SHORE. The four counties that make up the Shore (Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth and Ocean) account for more than 72% or $21.6 billion in annual economic activity.

Could you imagine if Asbury Park were able to garner just 5% of the travel and tourism industry in NJ? That would be an influx of $1,500,000,000 into our local economy. This is why we need to seriously reconsider the focus of our efforts on the oceanfront and maximize our beaches, our brand name and our music history to create a first class tourist destination.
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I look forward to reading your comments and I hope this finds you well.

Peace,

James W. Keady, Councilman
City of Asbury Park, NJ