Monmouth County's towns and business continue to experience a increase in tourism-related revenue post-Hurricane Sandy.
LONG BRANCH - The 2016 summer tourism season was another strong post-Sandy showing for Monmouth County, officials and businesses announced during an event at Pier Village on Tuesday.
"We had our best year ever," Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider said. "The year after Sandy had been our second-best year ever, behind 2012, and we've continued to have record seasons every year after that."
Kevin Barry, vice president of Barry Hotels, speaks during a Monmouth County tourism event at Pier Village in Long Branch on Oct. 11, 2016. (Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) The 2016 summer tourism season - which spans from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day - was shorter than the record-setting 2015 season and the crucial Labor Day weekend was affected by Hurricane Hermine fears.
But Schneider said Long Branch still brought in approximately $2.1 million in beach tag revenue in 2016, which was approximately $50,000 more than it generated in 2015.
"We also had parking revenue, which we've never had before, that was off the charts," he said. "It means people are coming here, it means the businesses are doing well and it gives people incentive to keep investing. That excites us, because we love being thought of as a destination. That's the goal."
The week before Labor Day Weekend, Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long and Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty said their towns, like many others on the Jersey Shore, were also on pace for record-setting years.
Laura Kirkpatrick, the county's director of Public Information and Tourism, said the county had not yet received beach tag revenue from all of its shore towns as of Tuesday, but that $15.8 million was generated countywide in both 2015 and 2016.
"We're in a little different perspective than the municipalities because we have to look at it from the broad picture. Because we not only have the oceanfronts, the tourism season for us stretches out to the western part of the county," Board of Chosen Freeholders Director Thomas Arnone said. "We absolutely did great this year. I think overall, with the whole picture, that we're really up and with each individual component, I think we're up as well."
While the countywide beach tag revenue seemingly remained flat based on the incomplete data from shore towns, Kirkpatrick said the county's "hotels, restaurants and attractions reported an uptick for 2016."
Representatives from Keansburg Amusement Park and Runaway Rapids, Barry Hotels (Molly Pitcher Inn and The Oyster Point Hotel), the Monmouth County Arts Council and Spring Lake's Chamber of Commerce reported strong numbers so far in 2016.
Katy Johnson, the marketing director for Keansburg Amusements, said the amusement park's historic Olde Heidelberg restaurant has enjoyed record revenue after recently reopening following Hurricane Sandy.
And Kevin Barry, vice president of Barry Hotels, said 2015 was a banner year for the two boutique hotels in Red Bank and that 2016 is on pace to be even better. He attributed some of the recent success to an increase of corporate events booked post-Sandy at the riverfront hotels, which he said traditionally generate about 80 percent of their revenue from weddings.
"We have seen a ton of business since Sandy. We're getting a lot of support from companies coming from all the country wanting to come to the Jersey Shore to hold their meetings," Barry said, adding the corporate events for more than 50 people hosted at the hotels are up about 15 percent from 2015. "It's really been phenomenal for us."
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