Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read December 2022— Across South Jersey, numerous developments are underway that require the region to balance future growth with its current idyllic character. As the future draws near and 2023 approaches, Invest: asked a number of leaders across the area what their thoughts for the New Year were — and here’s what they said.
What is the outlook for the region’s tourism industry over the course of the next few years?
Michael Snyder, Director of Operations, Visit South Jersey
By 2023, we anticipate that the state and our region will be back to 2019 levels, which was one of our highest-achieving years in the past decade. Everyone is ready to begin traveling again, and New Jersey is positioned for success due to that accessibility (40% of the US within a day’s drive) as well as a number of festivals, events and openings strengthening an already strong offering of family, historical, shopping and ecotourism assets.
For instance, the Edelman Fossil Park at Rowan University opening in Gloucester County next year is going to be an international destination that includes a full museum, visitors center and educational center.
In the upcoming years the region will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which, given our proximity to Philadelphia and the number of historically significant sites in South Jersey, we’ll be taking part in and anticipate seeing a large number of visitors. The state of New Jersey is working with organizations like Visit South Jersey to develop plans on that front. 2025 is also the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Homecoming 250, the national celebration of this anniversary plans to be a month-long celebration along the Delaware River.
In the sports arena, South Jersey will be home to the Dad Vail Regatta in 2023. With the World Cup slated for the East Coast in 2026, we are in an excited state of preparation for all the visitors those events will draw.
Andrew Saporito, Executive Director & CEO, South Jersey Port Corporation
What is your outlook and what are your priorities for your organization in the next two to three years?
Business is going to continue to grow. We’re trying to plan to keep up with that by modernizing our equipment and our terminals. We are also looking forward to taking advantage of the federal money that will be available in the next few years. All these different bills have passed so we’re trying to stay on top of that. That’s where we are heading.
READ MORE: Balancing development and character in South Jersey
Gerard Velazquez, President & CEO, Cumberland County Improvement Authority
How do you think the landscape is going to change in the next two to three years for Cumberland County?
I think the influx of people is going to have an impact on our rural county. It impacts housing and schools. There will be new insights with new people observing how we do things here. It might change how people look at things politically. We will try to direct and manage the change. We will need to manage the influx of the people coming here for new jobs. We need to get folks to think a little differently as they like the rural nature of our community. We need to change if we want to grow and to sustain. We are focusing on growth in certain designated areas that the residents agreed on so that we don’t have growth everywhere. These are places where we have infrastructure.
Louis Joyce, Executive Director, South Jersey Economic Development District
What is your vision for South Jersey?
My vision is that we become more prominent as a region and as a destination and my priority is to extend our resources, expertise and connections to assist the local communities to attract businesses, industries and people to grow our population.
One thing we face in South Jersey are a lot of state regulations stifling business growth. I’d like to continue working with legislators to get relief from those regulations that are making it difficult to live and work here
For more information, visit:
https://visitsouthjersey.com/
https://www.southjerseyport.com/
https://www.cumberlandcountynj.gov/CCIA
https://www.sjedd.com/
