Interview: Larry Sieg, President CEO, Meet AC

Larry Sieg

President & CEO Meet AC

Beaches in Wildwood are getting larger every year due to sand deposits.

( ) tourists were leisure travelers, accounting for 91% of the total visitors. This bodes well for recovery since experts predict a strong bounceback in leisure tourism due to pent-up demand.

This May, New Jersey’s Department of Travel and Tourism (NJTT) released 2020 figures and, although the numbers were predictably lower, they demonstrated the continued resilience of the state in the face of the pandemic. Total visitor spend dropped by 37% year over year to $29.4 billion and visitor numbers fell by 27% to 86.4 million. The market was bolstered by strong performance over the holiday season at the end of the year and high demand for the shore rental market during summer and continuing into fall. In fact, Cape May County saw the smallest year-on-year decline in tourism spending of all New Jersey in 2020 at a drop of just 21.1%.

In May, Gov. Murphy lifted New Jersey’s travel advisory, which recommended testing and quarantine for residents and out-of-state visitors. As of June 30, 55% of the state’s population was fully vaccinated and a further 7% had received one dose. CDC requirements for international travel are still in place, requiring quarantine and testing. While many people remain on tenterhooks over the pandemic, more people are starting to feel comfortable in a social setting. As a result, South Jersey is resuming its events calendar, starting with the annual Fourth of July fireworks that went off without a hitch, live music, winery events and movie nights.

What is the importance of the Atlantic City Convention Center to Atlantic City?

It’s a great generator of economic activity for Atlantic City. The economic impact of conventions and events at the Atlantic City Convention Center, such as the great number of room nights we bring to the city, are truly important to our industry partners. Meetings and conventions are the economic driver for many cities, including Atlantic City where casinos, restaurants, hotels and retail benefit from the activity.

How does demand for the Convention Center today compare to pre-pandemic levels?

2019 was the best year for Meet AC, producing about 397,000 room nights for the local area. We were on pace to easily break 400,000 room nights in 2020 before COVID-19 hit. Now what we’re seeing is the pent-up demand for in-person meetings is becoming greater and greater. We are on pace to do really well this year. We’re not going to have any problem meeting our goals. We have 169 events booked right now, which is on a pace similar to 2019 levels. We’re actually booking through 2025, and we’ve even had requests for bookings in 2032.

What have been some silver linings of the pandemic for Meet AC?

There were some really positive things that came out of the pandemic. One, we realized that we can do hybrid meetings, and that’s going to enhance individual experiences and attendance for meetings. Another area we’re excited about is the national convention landscape. I think for a while we’re going to see larger national conventions break down into smaller, regional market meetings and conventions. That’s a perfect opportunity for Atlantic City because we are positioned so well, being within driving distance of a third of the U.S. population. Smaller regional meetings work perfectly for Atlantic City as we still are primarily a “drive” market.

Arts, culture and entertainment South Jersey’s seven counties — Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem — along with neighboring Ocean County, create a patchwork of unique arts, culture and history offerings from festivals to galleries and historic sites to artist collectives. Many cultural institutions experienced a difficult year in 2020 but many managed to quickly pivot and provide their offering in a digital or online format. Now, as in-person events are opening up, the momentum and pent-up demand in New Jersey is palpable.

“Tourism is shaping up to perform well. A lot more people are vaccinated and feel comfortable going out. We actually saw a really good summer last year, and going into 2021 we’re seeing significant numbers of people on the boardwalk every day. This summer for Atlantic City is going to be booming, and we’re already seeing it starting,” said Larry Sieg, president and CEO of Meet AC.

In Atlantic City, after being allowed to reopen, casino performance is surging, with gross gaming revenue up more than 75% for the first five months of 2021 compared to the same period of 2020. Market leader Borgata doubled revenue in the period to almost $400 million from $200 million in the first five months of 2020. Remarkably, 2021 numbers are up even when compared to 2019, which delivered total gaming revenue of $296.1 million.

The advantage for South Jersey is its ability to cater to just about every taste. For those who are less interested in the casinos of Atlantic County or the live music, DJs and dancing found on the Jersey Shore, there are a host of arts and cultural offerings available. Camden County is home to the Cultural and Heritage

The first casino opened in Atlantic City in 1978.