Infrastructure protectionStorm surges, rising sea levels threaten New Jersey’s beach-centered tourism industry

Published 18 March 2014

Sea level at the Jersey Shore could rise by thirty-one inches by the year 2050, posing a threat to New Jersey’s $38 billion tourism industry. Experts say that the potential for more harsh storms and sea level rise calls for better promotion of what else New Jersey has to offer tourists aside from the beach.

Sea level at the Jersey Shore could rise by thirty-one inches by the year 2050, posing a threat to New Jersey’s $38 billion tourism industry. Planning and design firm Sasaki Associates says that  state tourism officials should begin to look for additional hot spots in New Jersey to contribute to tourism-generated revenue. Jason Hellendrung, principal of Sasaki Associates, says that the potential for more harsh storms and sea level rise calls for better promotion of what else New Jersey has to offer tourists aside from the beach.

APP.com reports that Sasaki is one of ten teams selected by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Rebuild by Design competition to propose a plan to promote resilience with innovative planning and design in Hurricane Sandy-affected areas.

“No one paid that close attention until Sandy. That was a wake-up call,” Hellendrunbg told Asbury Park Press. “New Jersey’s tourism industry, it’s a plus-or-minus $30 billion number, so how can we grow it so, if or when we see another storm in the future, we don’t take another crippling blow?” According to Hellendrung, New Jersey could lose $526.6 million in annual tax revenue if sea level rises by thirty-one inches. Just an increase of twelve inches in sea level could swallow 43,823 acres from Sandy Hook to Long Branch and Point Pleasant Beach to Beach Haven, the locations considered most vulnerable, leading to $13.77 billion in assessed property value to disappear.

As part of its proposal in the planning and design competition, Sasaki Associates is focusing on tourism in Ocean County because many of the city’s beach towns were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy; Ocean County also generates the third most tourism dollars annually in New Jersey, bringing in roughly $4.2 billion in tourism-related revenue in 2012, falling behind Cape May County at $5.2 billion and Atlantic County at $7.6 billion, according to the state’s annual tourism report. Ocean County is urged to promote tourists activities on the mainland, offering visitors opportunities to explore what lies beyond the beach thereby extending or altering their beach visit instead of canceling it.

Unfortunately, there’s always going to be another storm,” said Tony MacDonald, director of Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute. “Everyone is really focused on the recovery efforts, but this also provides a really good opportunity to plan for the future.”