Representatives of the Sea Isle City Tourism Commission watch a web commercial that is part of the summer marketing campaign.
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
After Hurricane Sandy lashed the Jersey Shore in 2012, Sea Isle City rented a billboard outside the Lincoln Tunnel with the message “We’re Ready” to let tourists in the New York City area know that the beach town had recovered from the storm and was open for business.
Now, the Sea Isle City Tourism Commission is planning a similar marketing campaign in coming weeks to help draw visitors to town during the summer vacation season once fears of the coronavirus pandemic calm down.
“We were very, very aggressive with the ‘We’re Ready’ campaign,” Tourism Commission Chairman James Bennett said Thursday during a board meeting.
He thinks Sea Isle should follow a similar strategy by launching a post-coronavirus marketing campaign that would assure visitors the shore is a safe place for them to spend their summer vacations.
“We are looking for leadership and direction on how to market Sea Isle City post-coronavirus,” he said.
Bennett called for a meeting between tourism representatives and Mayor Leonard Desiderio to begin planning a promotional campaign that would duplicate the success of Sea Isle’s marketing efforts after Hurricane Sandy hit.
“So that’s where we want to go again,” he said.
Sea Isle rented the ‘We’re Ready” billboard outside the Lincoln Tunnel connecting New Jersey and Manhattan to dispel the perception that every Jersey Shore town was devastated by the hurricane.
The “We’re Ready” campaign was credited with helping Sea Isle to quickly rejuvenate its economy after Sandy by attracting visitors from the tourist-rich areas of New York City and North Jersey.
Representatives of the Sea Isle City Tourism Commission watch a web commercial that is part of the summer marketing campaign.
For the second year in a row, the marketing campaign features the slogan “Reconnect in Sea Isle!” The web commercials beckon visitors with the words, “Reconnect, Refresh, Relax: Reconnect in Sea Isle City, New Jersey.”
Sea Isle is also printing 40,000 copies of its annual visitors guide, a compendium of local attractions, special events and other information helpful to vacationers. Of those, 6,500 copies will be mailed directly to local property owners.
