Pandemic-plagued summer leads to short-term and long-term changes
By JACK FICHTER/Sentinel staff
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — How was the 2020 summer tourist season and how can the industry plan for the 2021 season with a continuing COVID-19 pandemic?
Those questions were pondered during the inaugural Jersey Shoreview, a Zoom webinar Oct. 22 presented by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University.
The event was moderated by Anthony Catanoso, president and principal owner of Steel Pier in Atlantic City. He said more than 90 percent of his customers were from the New York City area this summer and 90 percent were in the 18- to 34-year-old category.
“We were up 20 percent from our normal North Jersey-New York visitation,” Catanoso said.
He said his staff experienced challenges in enforcement of wearing masks, social distancing and sanitation.
A “no dancing rule” was difficult to enforce, he said.
Vicki Clark, president of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce, said the county did better than anticipated. She said business in July and August “rebounded nicely.”
“Everyone will report that it was off from what it was in 2019,” she said. “We were really staged to have a record-setting season.”
Clark said the closing of the Canadian border affected business in Cape May County, but those customers were replaced with new customers who had never previously vacationed here.
“We saw a considerable increase in the camping industry that can truthfully boast that they are the original social-distancing experience,” she said.
A surge took place in the purchase of recreational and camping vehicles and at the same time, campground owners and managers were teaching people how to camp, Clark said.
“They were teaching people what those strange sounds were in the middle of the night,” she said. “They were teaching people how to build fires.”
Clark said Cape May County was well positioned to expand outdoor dining and to relax liquor laws. She said she hoped that would continue into the fall season.
Jim Ziereis, vice president of hotel sales for Tropicana Atlantic City, said the hotel/casino did “fairly well.” Its core customers that might have had a complimentary hotel room in the past “did not flock back because some of the amenities that weren’t being offered at that time,” he said.
“We found there were more cash rooms than comp rooms, that was in the summertime on a Friday and Saturday night,” Ziereis said. “Now we are slowly adding on amenities to get people back and get people to a comfort level that it’s clean and it’s safe and we have these protocols in place.”
Oliver Cooke, associate professor of economics at Stockton University and editor of the South Jersey Economic Review, said he has been examining statistics that showed employment in Atlantic City was down by 43,000 jobs in the second quarter.
“It’s bounced back and was about 23,000 in the third quarter,” he said. “Not surprisingly, a lot of it was the casinos, restaurants and retail, which is exactly what you’d expect.”
Cooke said he was “cautiously optimistic” looking at 2021. He said the public health story would lead the way.
Michael Brennan, executive chef at Josie Kelly’s Public House in Somers Point, said the restaurant exceeded 2019 daily sales while offering only outdoor dining. He said food sales did much better than alcohol sales.
“It is kind of interesting to see people’s trends when it comes to outdoor dining, they are going to eat more food but they are not necessarily going to drink or we’re not getting that bar sale,” Brennan said.
He said the restaurant had an older crowd that opted to dine outside.
Brennan said he believed outdoor dining would become one of the new norms for southern New Jersey and that guests have been eating more and ordering higher-priced items.
“People are hungry for this normal type of dining again, being able to go out and enjoy moments with their family or their partner or their spouse that they haven’t been able to enjoy through quarantine,” Brennan said.
The Tropicana hosts a number of banquets and moving forward, Ziereis said he did not envision long lines of double-sided buffets where everyone hits the buffet at the same time in the future. He said the staff would be serving plated food.
Ziereis said September figures showed slot machines for the industry were down 9.6 percent and table games were down 25.5 percent.
“However, the internet gaming piece and the sports betting is a really good news story for the entire industry,” he said. “Keep in mind when you walk on the casino floor, just about every other slot machine is turned off, there are fewer seats at a gaming table.”
Brennan said the restaurant business is difficult to gauge at this time since it has the expense of masks, gloves, sanitizing equipment and the increase in the cost of food.
The pandemic has caused a number of people with second homes to take up residency at the shore. Clark said Cape May County is seen as a safer place to be in the pandemic.
She noted the county has been searching for economic diversity but did not expect it would come from a pandemic.
“It is expanding the opportunity for people to see Cape May County as a desirable place to live and we’ve seen an uptick in enrollment in some of our school districts as well as people can work remotely and choose a quieter pace of life,” Clark said.
Cooke said when the pandemic wanes and recovery takes hold in 2021, there would be a contrast between people who feel comfortable in a variety of situations whether in an airplane, restaurant or a casino floor versus those who are holding back.
Catanoso said Steel Pier had no J-1 Visa foreign exchange student workers this summer.
“We don’t hire foreign exchange over locals. We hire all locals, but when you go to a second shift during the summer, that’s where the foreign exchange comes in handy because then you can fill all the vacancies, you can fill all the shifts,” he said.
Some rides and food establishments on the pier were closed due to a shortage of employees, Catanoso said.
He said some were earning more money on unemployment compensation than they would working, so it was difficult to get them off unemployment and back to the work force. Catanoso said Steel Pier employed 300 people with 140 foreign exchange students as part of that total in a normal year.
“To fill that gap with locals, there’s just not enough help there,” he said.
Ziereis said the extra unemployment compensation provided more disposable income for entertainment opportunities.
Clark said Cape May County suffered greatly from the employment situation and there was an unintended consequence of the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA.) She said many people that normally fill seasonal positions were in a quandary, earning more collecting the PUA subsidy and staying on unemployment, which was the best situation for their family.
“We couldn’t get people back to work, we didn’t have the J-1 Visa program,” Clark said.
She said some business owners decided to close a location rather than put their brand reputation at risk. It is unknown whether the J-1 program will resume next summer, Clark said.
Cooke said the game changer in 2021 would be the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine in the first or second quarter.
“You can’t just inoculate 300 million Americans overnight, it will take some time,” he said. “I think the psychological impact that it will have will be huge.”
He said there is a looming state and local government fiscal crisis with a $7 billion gap in New Jersey for the current fiscal year. Cooke said a second federal government response in early 2021 would be helpful.
Almost 25 million people nationwide are collecting unemployment insurance benefits, he said. He noted every employee is also a consumer and enhanced benefits put dollars in people’s pockets.
The panelists were asked their opinion on the effect on tourism of the possible legalization of marijuana in New Jersey following a Nov. 3 election ballot question. Catanoso said he was opposed to legalization because it would have a direct negative impact on businesses such as Steel Pier. He said he has employees from the age of 16 and older operating rides.
Catanoso said all of his employees are drug tested.
“I just think this issue is the wrong thing at the wrong time and we need to put the brakes on it,” Clark said.
Ziereis said Las Vegas has recreational marijuana but dispensaries are not in the casino area. If it does become legal in New Jersey, he said he hoped dispensaries would not be located on the boardwalk in tourism areas.
Cooke said the revenue marijuana sales would generate for the state could be directed into aiding small businesses or municipalities.
Brennan, who is 20 years old, called legalization a double-edged sword with opening dispensaries in Atlantic City counter to attempts to make it a more family-oriented city.
“I think coming from my generation where cannabis and marijuana is a little bit more socially accepted, this isn’t too big of a hot-button topic,” he said.
Recreational marijuana could appeal to younger clientele who would come to the region for that sole reason, which could benefit bars, restaurants and casinos, Brennan said.
On the topic of how the hospitality industry can plan for summer 2021, Brennan replied, “don’t go to culinary school.”
“Stay focused, don’t give up hope,” Ziereis said. “It’s not a matter of if we are coming out of this, it’s when we are coming out of it and we have to be prepared both mentally and creatively.”