A good post-Sandy summer season at the Jersey Shore, Christie says
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie discusses the summer tourism season on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach. (Phil Gregory/for NewsWorks)
Just before the Labor Day weekend, Gov. Chris Christie said clean beaches and rebuilt boardwalks helped Jersey Shore towns have a good summer season.
Summer tourism revenue figures aren’t available yet, but the governor says anecdotal evidence indicates Sandy is having an effect.
Business owners have told him tourism is down more than 10 percent in Wildwood and is off by 40 percent In Seaside Heights, Christie said during a Thursday visit to Point Pleasant Beach.
“A lot of this is very localized. If you’ve lost a lot of your rental stock, people aren’t coming there for the week or two weeks or month that they used to,” he said. “Those businesses in that particular town — the restaurants, the liquor stores, and the bars — are not going to do as well because people tend to stay in the town where they rent.”
Tax revenue figures due by mid-September and reports at the end of summer on beach badge sales will show how successful the season has really been, Christie said.
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