BELMAR – On May 20, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders celebrated the start of the summer season at the beach in Belmar, expecting a bigger and better year for 2019.
“Tourism is a $2.6 billion industry in Monmouth County,” said Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone, liaison to the Department of Public Information and Tourism. “The fiscal impact of the tourism industry benefits everyone from small business owners to the nearly 30,000 residents who have tourism employment.”
With the tourism industry on the rise in Monmouth County, Freeholder Director Arnone provided some tourism statistics from last year’s summer season.
In 2018, Monmouth County saw 8.6 million visitors, up from the 8.2 million estimated visitors in 2017, according to the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism 2018 economic report. Not only this, but Monmouth County was one of the top five most visited counties throughout NJ in 2018.
“The Monmouth County Division of Tourism works throughout the entire year to market and promote our area to potential visitors throughout the Northeast,” said Freeholder Director Arnone. “As a result of our efforts, we continue to see growth in the number of day trips, weekend trips and family vacations.”
And of course, with more visitors comes more revenue. In 2018, visitors spent nearly $2.6 billion on lodging, food, retail, recreation, transportation and second homes in Monmouth County.
“Monmouth County offers visitors much more than just a trip to the Jersey Shore,” Freeholder Director Arnone said. “Monmouth County is also known for its downtowns, arts and entertainment, cultural and historical sites, dining, shopping and outdoor activities.”
Monmouth County officials are looking forward to another great year at the shore.
On May 20, Freeholder Director Arnone also announced the winners the of 3rd Annual Monmouth County Summer Kick-off Poster Contest, open to fourth-grade students at Belmar Elementary School.
The winners were:
- 1st: Jael Trejo Sanchez
- 2nd: Jenna Sharin
- 3rd: Jake Circelli
For more information about Monmouth County happenings, go to tourism.visitmonmouth.com and follow Monmouth County Tourism on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
