How has the economy affected travel decisions New Jerseyans make?
It is the discretionary spending that was affected most. Specifically, as for the folks that I spoke to at the Shore, the [businesses] that saw a downturn were restaurants, especially lunch and midweek. People are probably visiting for long weekends, and, if anything, they will not go out for lunch. Those [businesses] felt the impact. Also, the guys who rent jet skis and the other incidental things felt an impact. What we found is that people were still going to the Shore, but they were cutting back on incidentals such as T-shirts and souvenirs. However, it is important to note that the economic situation [also] has seemed to help us this summer—at least that is what we are predicting. Based on anecdotal stories from Cape May to as high as Monmouth Beach, people were still going to the beach because it was close. For example, you go to Long Branch, and by looking at license plates, you can see there are a lot of New Yorkers coming to our beaches. The economy is helping us because you d
