Interview: Diane Wieland, Tourism

Banner forecast

Fresh investment, tourism rebound set up Cape May for a banner year

Diane Wieland

Tourism Director – Cape May County

What differentiates Cape May County from the rest of South Jersey? Cape May County is situated at the southernmost tip of New Jersey. We are surrounded by the Delaware River on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. This allows us to have a different climate than even Atlantic County because we have the warm breezes from both the Delaware Bay and the ocean. Cape May County is referred to by meteorologists as the “Cape May Bubble” because we don’t have the same weather patterns as the rest of the state. For example, we get very little snow. The warmer weather has a great impact on when people can visit, what they can do outside, as well as the seasons for our agriculture and fishing industries.

What are the most significant investments underway in Cape May County? The County Commons has taken a tired and Worn-out mall and turned it into a vibrant hub, transforming it into a mix of commercial properties and government offices. We see that as erasing some of the blight in retail and revitalizing Rio Grande, an important section of Cape May County. This introduces cohesiveness to the business district being developed in the area.

We are also seeing improvements on our boardwalks. We’re seeing economic development dollars coming in to revitalize parts of the boardwalks. For many of our towns, the boardwalks are their downtown. There is constant talk of the demise of downtown areas across the nation but we’re reinvesting into and recreating ours.

How does tourism in Cape May County today compare to pre-pandemic levels? Using the occupancy tax data provided by the New Jersey Treasury, we were up 12.7% for the first quarter of 2021 versus 2019. In September and October of 2020, we began exceeding 2019 numbers. Things are filling up as people feel more ready and comfortable to get out. Historically, when the occupancy rates go up, so does the rest of the economy as local businesses benefit from that activity. We’re expecting 2021 to be a banner year.

What is the greatest challenge facing South Jersey’s tourism industry? Labor is the biggest challenge right now, and it’s a nearcrisis situation. So many of our businesses depended on J-1 visa employees. Because of COVID, there has been a great slowdown in the visa approval process. Typically 5,200 J-1 visas are approved for New Jersey, and about 2,500 of them come to Cape May County and are employed through our tourism industry. The other side is the current additional unemployment benefits and the resulting disincentives for work.