By Donald Wittkowski
Sea Isle City’s business community is looking just a few miles outside of town for a new source of visitors – the campgrounds that dot the Route 9 and Route 83 corridors.
The Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization may run shuttle service to the campgrounds throughout the 2019 summer season to draw more day-trippers to the beach resort.
Chamber leaders believe the people who stay at the campgrounds could generate extra business for the bars, restaurants and retail shops in Sea Isle, particularly during the slower days of the week.
Mike Monichetti, owner of Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant on Park Road, said weekends remain strong for Sea Isle’s businesses, but Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays often are slow, even during the height of the summer season.
“We need to get the money together to have an aggressive campaign to promote the businesses on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Sea Isle City,” Monichetti said during the Chamber’s monthly board meeting Dec. 4.
Monichetti described the drop-off in business on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays as “increasingly alarming” throughout Sea Isle.
“You can park on Landis Avenue on Wednesday any time in the summer,” John Fee, the Chamber’s vice president, said of how business slows down during midweek.
At the board meeting, the Chamber members discussed developing a strategy to attract more visitors from South Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania that have traditionally been feeder markets for Sea Isle, including Delaware and Chester counties.
At the same time, they said Sea Isle’s businesses also need to focus on the campgrounds that are just a few miles away in Cape May County’s mainland communities along the Route 9 and Route 83 corridors.
One idea under discussion is for the Chamber to use some of its marketing money to underwrite daily shuttle service between Sea Isle and the campgrounds during the summer. Under the proposal, people staying in the campgrounds would be able to ride the jitney shuttles for free.
Christopher Glancey, the Chamber’s president, said he plans to invite a representative of the jitney association to the January board meeting to discuss specifics of the plan, including how often the shuttle would run each day and where it would drop off passengers in Sea Isle. The Chamber will also get an idea of how much it would cost for it to fund the shuttle service.
Monichetti also suggested that the Chamber should begin placing information about Sea Isle’s businesses in the racks of promotional materials at the campgrounds. He noted that he puts the menus for his seafood restaurant in the racks to attract campground customers.
“The rack system in the campgrounds really works well,” Monichetti said.
Although the Chamber is looking to tap the campgrounds for new business, it seems that Sea Isle already draws many of the campers to the beaches.
Former Sea Isle Mayor Mike McHale told the Chamber members that he believes between 20 percent and 25 percent of Sea Isle’s beach tags are sold to the campgrounds.
