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SEA ISLECITY — A giant billboard that greets
motorists as they cross into New Jersey via
the Lincoln Tunnel lets would-be visitors know that Sea Isle City is open for business.
“People
saw that roller coaster in the water and thought it was the entire Jersey Shore,”
Sea Isle City Mayor Len Desiderio said of the image of the Jet Star roller
coaster in the ocean off Seaside
Heights following
Hurricane Sandy.
Desiderio
and members of the island’s business community decided they had to do something
to overcome that perception, so they headed north.
The
billboard, which costs $15,000 monthly, is being paid for by the Sea Isle City
Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization, and is part of a partnership between
the business community, tourism commission and the city.
Desiderio
hasn’t driven north to see it, but he had a friend in Nutley drive by and take a picture.
“He
called it ‘grand,’” Desiderio said.
The
billboard featuring this season’s slogan, “We’re ready,” aims to draw visitors
from New York and northern New
Jersey, the first time the city has turned its advertising dollars
to New York.
“We
get calls from people asking are we going to be ready for summer. Although we
suffered some damage to the Police Department and City Hall, we want people to
know that the city is ready,” Desiderio said.
Normally,
the city’s advertising focuses on the Philadelphia
market, but following Hurricane Sandy towns such as Sea
Isle City
are looking to draw visitors who might otherwise have gone to places like Seaside Heights, which suffered significant
damage.
The
ad campaign was targeted to start at the end of January, when visitors are
looking to book their summer vacations.
“We
know that they may or may not be able to go to Monmouth or Ocean counties, but
we wanted to give them the option of staying in Jersey,”
Desiderio said. “We want to keep the tourist dollars in the state of New Jersey.”
Christopher
Glancey, president of the city’s chamber of commerce, said an estimated 400,000
people travel through the tunnel each day, giving the city a wider audience.
The
billboard features the city’s website, seaislecitynj.us,
and the chamber will track visits to determine how successful the billboard is.
If the numbers show growth, then the billboard will remain for another month.
Glancey
said the chamber will host fundraisers to support the billboard’s placement. No
city dollars are being used, Desiderio said.
Sea
Isle City has a year-round population of about 2,300 people, but swells to
about 50,000 on any given summer weekend, and Desiderio hopes those numbers
grow with the help of the new ad campaign.
The
campaign will also include radio ads and some cable television ads starting
this month.
“Every
$1 we spend (in advertising) brings back $68 in spending,” he said, noting a Cape May County tourism report.
