January 30, 2012

Contact: Jennifer Stringfellow (609) 292-7138
visitnj.org

SIXTEEN NEW JERSEY TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS AWARDED DESTINATION MARKETING GRANTS

Trenton, NJ – Sixteen tourism-related organizations were awarded Destination Marketing Organization Grants totaling over $1.4 million to expand tourism marketing opportunities in New Jersey, the state Division of Travel and Tourism announced Monday.

The organizations work with local entertainment venues, restaurants, retail outlets, and hotels to promote their respective region’s historical, cultural, and artistic attractions.

“Tourism is New Jersey’s third largest private sector employer and generates $35.5 billion in economic activity and 310,000 jobs,” Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, who oversees the Division of Travel and Tourism, said. “These grants will leverage additional economic activity and, most importantly, create jobs.”

Destination Marketing Organization Grants were awarded to the following organizations:

Atlantic City Convention and Visitor Authority - $74,835
Brick City Development Corporation in Newark - $48,000
Central Jersey Convention and Visitors Bureau in Middlesex County – $36,000
Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs - $3,551
Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce - $33,000
Jersey City Economic Development Corporation – $114,000
Meadowlands Liberty Convention and Visitors Bureau - $150,000
Morris County Tourism Bureau - $141,000
Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce - $123,000
Shore Regional Tourism Council - $111,000
Somerset County Business Partnership - $108,000
South Jersey Tourism Corporation - $36,072
Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce - $141,000
Southern Shore Regional Tourism Council - $141,000
Sussex County Chamber of Commerce - $102,000
Trenton Downtown Association - $62,723

The Meadowlands Liberty Convention and Visitors Bureau, for example, will use some of its $150,000 grant to promote Super Bowl XLVIII, which will be played at MetLife Stadium in 2014. The Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce plans to market their unique business meeting and conference venues, the South Jersey Tourism Corporation will showcase New Jersey’s winery industry and the Southern Shore Regional Tourism Council will launch a campaign targeted to Canadians to promote the shore as a vacation destination.

Each grant application is reviewed by what is described as an independent panel with granting, marketing, and tourism experience. Applicants must demonstrate quality work, a clear demonstration of how their project will contribute to New Jersey’s tourism industry, and how their project fits within the Division of Travel and Tourism’s priorities.

“DMOs play a valuable role in promoting tourism and generating economic activity,” state Travel & Tourism Director Grace Hanlon said. “Over the years, these grants have successfully helped tourism organizations promote New Jersey as a vacation destination.”

July 12, 2010

Bob Martin, Commissioner
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
401 E. State St.
7th Floor East Wing
Trenton, NJ  08625

Re:  Opposition to Offshore Exploration and Drilling in the North Atlantic

Dear Federal, State, and County Government Officials:

In the wake of the BP, Deepwater Horizon incident and the resulting catastrophic environmental and economic impacts to the Gulf Region, the New Jersey Travel Industry Association Board of Directors has voted to oppose offshore oil drilling in coastal waters within the North Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic Minerals Management Service (MMS) planning areas.  NJTIA is concerned that treats to the tourism industry of New Jersey is too is great should a similar disaster as experienced in the Gulf of Mexico occur within these waters if exploration and drilling are permitted under the current regulatory climate using present technologies.

Tourism is the 2nd largest industry in New Jersey with nearly two thirds of the state’s $40 billion tourism revenues generated from the four counties that border the Atlantic Ocean.  Residents and local businesses depend on clean ocean water and pristine beaches to generate nearly 500,000 tourism jobs annually. 

Additionally, NJTIA is requesting that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection provide specific information regarding the action plan developed for our coastline and marine waters should the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill encroach New Jersey waters.

Sincerely,
Joanne DelVescio, President
NJTIA

UPDATE on NJDEP's Ban of Shellfish Restoration

Dear NY/NJ Baykeeper Friends:
 
I just wanted to thank you for your support in opposing the recent decision by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to ban growing commercial shellfish in contaminated waters for research and restoration purposes. Your letters and interest helped generate a supportive editorial from The Record (please see below).  
 
We are still collecting letters to the NJDEP Commissioner (for more information please visit our website and one of our volunteers has started an on-line petition.  Please take a moment to sign your name: http://www.petitiononline.com/nj07074/petition.html
 
We will continue to fight to keep this valuable program and we sincerely appreciate all your help.

Debbie Mans, Baykeeper 

 Editorial from The Record: Oysters barred 
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 
The Record

THE STATE Department of Environmental Protection last week put an end to growing commercial shellfish in contaminated waters for research purposes.

That unfortunate decision put the kibosh on several worthy projects, including a three-year undertaking to reestablish oyster beds in the Hackensack River, Staff Writer James O'Neill reported. The same research was also looking at ways oysters could help clean up polluted waters.

Shellfish farming is a $790 million industry in New Jersey. DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said the ban is needed to protect the industry from a publicity nightmare, as well as consumers from a health scare. What if poachers broke into the research cages, stole the oysters and sold them to the public? Someone might get sick, and the industry seriously damaged.

We find this logic puzzling. Science is based on research. It is a collective effort, with each advance made possible by the research that came before it. Without scientific study, there is no progress. And progress ultimately aids commerce. To ban research because of something that may happen makes no sense.

If the state is concerned about poachers - last year the agency made 60 poacher arrests in restricted waters - then insist on tamper-proof cages, an alarm system or some other security measure. But don't eliminate the research entirely when no illness has yet been linked to the research oysters.

Oysters are adept at filtering contaminated water. They separate poisonous particles from what is edible, spitting out the pollution in the form of pellets. That means PCBs and heavy metals are no longer suspended in the flowing water, which means healthier waterways. Oysters also form vertical reefs that help mitigate shoreline erosion and create a fish habitat.

State and federal agencies are working on restoring New York Harbor's ecosystem. They want to build 500 acres of oyster reefs. New Jersey is part of the project. So is the now-suspended Hackensack research.

The DEP has said that estuary cleanup should concentrate on finding the sources of pollution and working to stop them. We heartily agree. But state agencies and environmentalists have been working on it for years. While there is no question that New Jersey's water is getting cleaner, it will be a long time before all pollution is eradicated. We need to attack the problem from more than one angle.

Because of the new ban, the oyster research cages will be pulled from the HackensackRiver, and oyster reefs in Raritan Bay and Navesink River will be demolished. This is not progress.

THE STATE Department of Environmental Protection last week put an end to growing commercial shellfish in contaminated waters for research purposes.

That unfortunate decision put the kibosh on several worthy projects, including a three-year undertaking to reestablish oyster beds in the Hackensack River, Staff Writer James O'Neill reported. The same research was also looking at ways oysters could help clean up polluted waters.

Shellfish farming is a $790 million industry in New Jersey. DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said the ban is needed to protect the industry from a publicity nightmare, as well as consumers from a health scare. What if poachers broke into the research cages, stole the oysters and sold them to the public? Someone might get sick, and the industry seriously damaged.

We find this logic puzzling. Science is based on research. It is a collective effort, with each advance made possible by the research that came before it. Without scientific study, there is no progress. And progress ultimately aids commerce. To ban research because of something that may happen makes no sense.

If the state is concerned about poachers - last year the agency made 60 poacher arrests in restricted waters - then insist on tamper-proof cages, an alarm system or some other security measure. But don't eliminate the research entirely when no illness has yet been linked to the research oysters.

Oysters are adept at filtering contaminated water. They separate poisonous particles from what is edible, spitting out the pollution in the form of pellets. That means PCBs and heavy metals are no longer suspended in the flowing water, which means healthier waterways. Oysters also form vertical reefs that help mitigate shoreline erosion and create a fish habitat.

State and federal agencies are working on restoring New York Harbor's ecosystem. They want to build 500 acres of oyster reefs. New Jersey is part of the project. So is the now-suspended Hackensack research.

The DEP has said that estuary cleanup should concentrate on finding the sources of pollution and working to stop them. We heartily agree. But state agencies and environmentalists have been working on it for years. While there is no question that New Jersey's water is getting cleaner, it will be a long time before all pollution is eradicated. We need to attack the problem from more than one angle.

Because of the new ban, the oyster research cages will be pulled from the HackensackRiver, and oyster reefs in Raritan Bay and Navesink River will be demolished. This is not progress.