Destination New Jersey: New tourism commercial beckons viewers in key markets
With the Statue of Liberty as her backdrop, Gov. Christie Whitman steers the magnificent tall-ship A. J. Meerwald and invites millions to visit New Jersey in a new tourism commercial unveiled today by Gualberto Medina, CEO & Secretary of New Jersey Commerce & Economic Growth Commission.
"There's no place like New Jersey in the summer," Gov. Whitman said. "We offer an exciting, family-friendly vacation, whether it is on land or at sea. It won't take you long to learn why we say New Jersey & You…Perfect Together."
The four-week, nearly $1 million campaign, which began last week, will air nationally and in targeted regional network and cable markets including New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The Spanish-language version will be aired on Univision, and features Gov. Whitman speaking in Spanish.
The commercial features a variety of activities available in New Jersey: Atlantic City, the Jersey Shore, Six Flags Great Adventure, baseball and historic sites like the Old Barracks and New Jersey's tall-ship, the A.J. Meerwald.
"The Garden State is blooming not just with beautiful flowers, but with wonderful new attractions, like Six Flags spectacular expansion and the addition of its tropical themed-waterpark dubbed 'Hurricane.' We want people to know that New Jersey has it all, history, adventure, family-oriented fun, diversity and so much more."
As with all of New Jersey's television commercials, viewers are invited to call 1-800 VISIT NJ for the state's flagship Travel Guide, which provides a wealth of information on attractions, transportation and special events.
Tourism advertising impacts visitation significantly as exemplified by recent tourism research conducted for the Commission by Toronto-based Longwoods International. It revealed that visitation to New Jersey increased by two percent to nearly 167 million trips in 1999. Overnight trips rose by ten percent to nearly 44 million trips.
The research also showed that expenditures by day travelers increased by $8.3 billion, a 4 percent rise. Spending by pass-through travelers increased by 8 percent to $1.66 billion in 1999.
According to Noreen Bodman, Executive Director of the Office of Travel and Tourism, the Commission's marketing strategy seeks to maintain and expand New Jersey's advertising presence in core markets by increasing customer awareness of the state's diversity of entertainment and attractions.
"For every dollar we spend on tourism advertising, $23 in tax revenues is generated for the state," Bodman said. "The economic benefits to our state of $27.7 billion annually in tourism expenditures and almost 500,000 direct jobs is only exceeded by the quality of life that is provided to our residents."
In addition to the spring television commercial, the Commission's overall marketing campaign to promote New Jersey as prime vacation destination includes media placement in newspapers, consumer magazines, and radio and travel trade publications.
The Commission's overall tourism marketing campaign is a convergence of strategies developed in accordance with Governor Whitman's ten-year tourism master plan which includes driving visitation from neighboring regions as well as increasing off-season travel to New Jersey.
Scelba, Scelba, DeTitta & Wolfson (SSD&W) developed the commercial for New Jersey under the creative direction of the New Jersey Commerce & Economic Growth Commission's Department of Marketing and Communications.