Vicari Predicts Upswing to Local Tourism

Will rising gasoline prices bring more visitors to Ocean County resorts this summer?

Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari thinks they will, predicting tourist businesses will do “substantially better’’ this summer.

He made the prediction as the county government unveiled 51 grants worth a total of $59,895 to help promote events designed to bring people to attractions along the bay and ocean and at Great Adventure in Jackson Township.

Vicari said tourism is a $3.3 billion business for the county, an important source of jobs during the national recession. An estimated 65,000 people work in the tourism industry, he said.

“It’s the largest retail employer in Ocean County,’’ said Fred Schneeweiss, who chairs the county’s Tourism Advisory Council, which approved the grants.

The county’s freeholders started using them in 1989, offering a dollar-for-dollar match for groups seeking help promoting tourism events.

“It’s not only visitors, people who live here enjoy these events,’’ Vicari said.

He urged business owners to hire Ocean County residents this summer, saying the wages they are paid are spent in the county. “With foreign workers the money goes to Eastern Europe,’’ he said.

The tourism promotion grants range from $1,000 to $1,500 and help pay to promote everything from decoy shows to marathon races, ethnic festivals, even the Toms River Halloween Parade.

Vicari is also predicting a comeback in the auto sales and service business along Route 37 in Toms River, which was hit by the recession and the bankruptcy of General Motors and Chrysler.

He said all the vacant dealerships will be reopened, creating as many as 500 jobs, in the near future.