Nearly four months after the Jersey Shore suffered the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, tourism officials insisted that visitors return to the shore, saying it's "up for business."
At a Wednesday news conference at the Stateroom, a Long Beach Island restaurant, tourism officials urged visitors to plan a summer vacation, shop a beachside downtown, go on a dinner date or take an oceanfront stroll -- a chance for them to see that the shore hasn't washed away, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The event was called "A Heart-to-Heart Conversation with New Jersey Tourism," coinciding with a campaign called "Show Your Love for the Jersey Shore," which encourages visitors to return to the shore even before the summer.
Tourism is a $38-billion-a-year industry in New Jersey, supporting 312,000 jobs and helping drive the state's economic engine, experts said at the conference, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"The best way you can help with the recovery is to come to the Jersey Shore and spend money," Grace Hanlon, executive director of the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, said at the conference, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
New Jersey tourism was doing very well before the hurricane, up 7 percent in 2011 from 2010, with new visitor expenditures only slightly less than 2007's all-time high of $39.5 billion, according to Hanlon.
Former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, who purchased Blue Heron Pines Golf Club in Galloway Township last June, said he thinks the Shore will soon be booming again. He spoke of events and games, including next year's Super Bowl, which is scheduled to be held at the Meadowlands, to showcase the state.
"It is up to us to let the world know we are open," he told The Philadelphia Inquirer, "and to show New Jersey in the best light we can."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
